James, I Hate Your Best Friend
by sjohn2999
Summary: The relationship of Rose and Scorpius by the eight people who know them the best.
1. Harry

**A/N: I do not own the characters, only the plot.**

**Harry**

"Wake up boys! Breakfast is getting cold!"

I groaned, grasping desperately at the sleep that was quickly escaping my hold. After lying there for a few minutes, I gave in to consciousness and opened my eyes. I looked to my left, unsurprised to see an empty spot my wife usually occupies, but she was already up given that she had been the one calling. With a sigh, I swung my legs off the side of the bed, rubbed my eyes, and put on my glasses. Back cracking as I stretched my slightly sore muscles, I slowly made my way down the stairs, looking at my watch as I went. To my surprise, it was almost 11, which is later than I normally sleep on Saturdays. I guess working on a particularly difficult case for 36 hours straight will do that to you.

When I got down to the kitchen, my wife, Ginny, and daughter, Lily, were eating blueberry pancakes. I made my way toward them, turning over my shoulder to yell up the stairs, "Come on guys! Lily made your favorite! Get down here before I eat them all!"

I would do no such thing because blueberries aren't really my thing, but I'll never tell them that. I just wanted to get them out of bed. I guess they took the bait because there was a sudden thundering as three hungry boys jumped out of bed and began racing down the stairs. Practically wrestling with each other to get to the pancakes first, the two black haired boys and the blond landed in a heap at the foot of the stairs. Taking out his wand, my eldest son James put the other two into a body bind curse, stood up, brushed himself off, and started piling pancakes on a plate. The plate flew out of his hands, and he made an indignant noise before he saw who had taken his food. Ginny gave her son a stern look and said, "James, where are your manners?" She unfroze the other two with a flick of her wand. "If the three of you are going to compete for pancakes, the least you can do is be fair. They can't use magic yet, so you shouldn't rub it in their faces. At least wait until next summer when the playing field is even. Besides, Scorpius is your guest, he should get first pick."

By this time, the blond, Scorpius Malfoy, and my other son, Albus, had picked themselves up and joined James by the pancakes. Scorpius smirked at James before turning to Ginny and saying sweetly, "Thank you Mrs. Potter, but really, that's not necessary. I don't want to be a bother." The kid was always incredibly polite to Ginny, and I could never tell if he really meant it or not. He had a mischievous streak to rival his father.

Ginny handed him the plate that James had prepared, smiled at him, and said, "It's no problem Scorpius. You're our guest. Besides, I grew up with six brothers who eat like James, I guess it's kind of my way of getting back at them."

James scowled and went to make another plate, but Al shoved him out of the way and James fell to the ground. I can't deny that it was kind of funny. Al normally doesn't shove his brother. It's not really his style. He's more likely to hit you with a Jellylegs Jinx or put frog spawn in your shampoo bottle, but these pancakes had always been his weakness. You may be thinking, "What's the big deal? They're just pancakes. There's no need for fighting." You would, however, be wrong. These are the best pancakes in the world. After all, my daughter had inherited her Grandmother's cooking skills. Enough said.

We all ate in silence for a few minutes before I turned to the kids an asked, "What are your plans for the day?"

Lily was the first to reply. "Alexis and Hugo are coming over. We're going to hang out in Diagon Alley; and then going to the Weird Sister's reunion concert. And yes, Dad, there will be parent supervision. Aunt Hermione is coming with us," she said, answering all my questions before I even asked them. I know it might be a little hypocritical to insist that my kids have so much supervision, especially since I did practically everything on my own when I was younger than them, but I've been told I have a protective side. Sometimes I'll let James out without an adult, but only if Al is with him. See, whenever James goes out, he's normally with Scorpius, and they always find some sort of trouble to get into. Before I instated the Al rule, James and Scorpius had been visiting Hogsmead during the summer holidays and somehow ended up letting all of Aberforth's goats free. Normally this wouldn't cause much of a problem, but Aberforth has a tendency to experiment on goats and some of them were able to breathe fire. Before the Magical Law Enforcement Squad was able to round them all up, half the town was on fire. In addition, George's whole stock of Weasley's Wildfire Wizbangs had been ignited by the fire and created an explosion so loud that the professors at Hogwarts thought the explosion was in the castle. Since then, James and Scorpius are not allowed to go anywhere without Albus because he's smart enough not to cause trouble. Or, at least he is clever enough to get away with it.

I turned to the boys in question who were finishing their breakfast. They exchanged a glance and seemed to have a silent conversation. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at James, who shrugged almost imperceptibly. Scorpius tilted his head to one side pursing his lips skeptically. James glanced discreetly at Albus, who was not part of the conversation but seemed to be able to understand their unspoken language, and rolled his eyes. James and Scorpius kept up this secret conversation of theirs until they came to a consensus, both leaning back in a nonchalant way, as if they weren't up to anything. James yawned, scratching his head tiredly and making his hair even messier than it usually was, which Scorpius took as his cue to tell me. Smiling innocently, which I didn't quite buy, Scorpius turned to me and said, "Well, Mr. Potter, we were going to visit Teddy."

I looked him over critically. "Why?" I asked.

"We just haven't seen him in a long time, and we know how he gets lonely."

I snorted. Teddy never gets lonely. He constantly has someone over at his flat, especially his girlfriend Victoire. The two of them were social animals, always ready for some type of group fun. There were only two reasons James and Scorpius would want to visit Teddy: 1) to attend some sort of party, or 2) they needed his Metamorphmagous skills for their next prank. Seeing as Victoire was in France visiting her grandparents and Teddy didn't have any parties without her, my money was on the second option. Knowing that Teddy is a responsible young man that would insure that their prank was not harmful in any way, I let the matter go, but not before giving Scorpius my signature 'I-know-you're-not-telling-me-the-whole-truth-and-you're-lucky-I'm-not-going-all-Auror-on-your-ass' look. Scorpius understood my meaning and gave me a genuinely charming smile, and I was awed, not for the first time, that I had come to know and like this boy so much. It never failed to astound me that the son of my childhood enemy would be best friends with my son. The irony got me every time. It even surprised me which son had befriended a Malfoy, for if I had to bet, I would have said Albus, not James.

Since his first day at Hogwarts, James had been a devoted Gryffindor, almost to an annoying degree. He was proud of his house to a fault and up held the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry as if his life depended on it. He entered his second year with more confidence than a second year should be allowed to have. He decided it was his job to torment the first year Slytherins. He made a mistake, however, when he tried to embarrass Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius was rather advanced for his age, having learnt half the spell book before the school year began, so when James attempted to place a hex on Scorpius that would have turned his skin purple, Scorpius was ready for him with a well executed Rictesempra. Embarrassingly, James was unable to remove the jinx and was paralyzed with laughter until McGonagall came along and put him right. Utterly humiliated, James went after Scorpius with a vicious vendetta. The two boys sent each other to the hospital wing so many times that they were on first name basis with all the nurses. This behavior continued, and escalated, until about halfway through the year when they landed a detention with Professor Lindsay (Yes, that's his last name.), the new DADA teacher, for nearly drowning each other in the Black Lake. For detention they had to join the Gobstones Club. Most people would not consider this much of a punishment, but for two active young boys, it was torture. Only extreme nerds were in the Gobstones Club, and I'm pretty sure the boys would have rather fed themselves to Aragog's babies than join the club. Apparently, they had decided that desperate times called for desperate measures, and they did the unspeakable and joined forces.

Together, they engineered a plan that took them three months to execute, but was worth all the effort. They started out by sneaking into Lindsay's office using the Marauders' Map and Invisibility Cloak (I know, it was a bad move on my part to give it to James. Lack of judgment on my part.) and cursing his robes to smell like sardines to cats, but undetectable to humans. Lindsay had all the pet cats in the castle following him around for three weeks before the spell wore off. That would have been funny enough, especially since Lindsay is a bit afraid of cats because of an unfortunate incident from his childhood, but the boys had taken it a step further. They cursed Lindsay so that every time he spoke, he meowed like a cat. The funny part was that he had no idea what was coming out of his mouth. To him it sounded like he was talking normally, but everyone else heard mewing. He was stupefied as to why all his students laughed uproariously at everything he said and why his colleagues looked at him like he had lost his mind. You may wonder how a first and second year managed to pull off such advanced magic. Well, when they actually try, James and Scorpius can be exceptionally bright; they just don't care very often. Sometimes I expect that Teddy might have given them some pointers also, but I can never be sure.

They got him back good, and no one could ever prove they did it (though I think McGonagall suspected them, but she hated Lindsay so much, she really didn't care. In fact, I think she secretly gave them each 50 points. Don't tell them that though. They don't know.), and both were so satisfied with their work that they took to pranking all the teachers, and eventually realized they had so much in common. I mean, they're practically twins, except the appearance thing. Since then, the two of them have been inseparable, James cares less about what house his friends belong to, and Scorpius has been accepted as one of the family. As for me and Draco, we've had to spend more time around each other than either of us would like, but despite our differences, we are both extremely proud of our sons. As corny as this sound, I guess our love for our sons made us put aside our rivalry. Sure, we have a rather icy relationship and still fight (which the boys find hilarious by the way. Sometimes they'll imitate the conversations Draco and I have. They're uncannily good at it, and kind of make me see how ridiculous we sound. Very forced.), but I guess Dumbledore was right, Love does conquer all.

Anyway, I turned away from Scorpius and looked at Al. "What are you doing today Al?"

Al finished shoveling pancakes in his mouth long enough to say, "Rose and I are going to see a movie. There's this new movie about wizards, and we want to see how off the Muggles are. They're normally quite wrong."

As if she had heard her name, Rose walked out of the fireplace with a cheerful greeting. Scorpius seemed to perk up at her appearance, but realized what he was doing almost immediately and leaned back in his chair as if he had been that way all along. I wasn't the only to notice either. James smirked shook his head at his friend's rather obvious behavior. Obvious to everyone but himself and Rose that is. Rose brushed the ash off her clothes and took a seat next to Albus, messing up his hair (not that it was tidy to begin with) as she went. "Almost ready Al?"

He batted away her hand and said, "Yeah. I just gotta change." He got up, put his plate in the sink, and downed some orange juice. "Be back in a minute," he yelled as he took the steps three at a time to his room. Lily and Ginny followed his example and went to get ready for the day. I considered doing the same, but, if I'm being completely honest, I'm a little nosy, and I wanted to see how the three remaining kids would interact. I'd seen it plenty of times before, but it never got old. The three of them sat there in an awkward silence, Scorpius and Rose avoiding each other's eyes while James looked on amusedly. I caught his eye and gave him a look that said 'go-ahead,-get-it-started,-I-want-to-see-this'. Grinning at me, he turned to Rose, cleared his throat, put on a serious face and said, "So… Rosie… Did you hear that Scorpius here got, what was it Scorp? 9 O.W.L.s?"

"Actually," Scorpius corrected, "it was 10, but I don't like to brag."

Rose snorted. "Really? That's never stopped you before."

"At least I have something to brag about," Scorpius retorted, giving her the signature Malfoy sneer, but there was a hint of teasing behind it.

Unfazed, Rose swept her long, red hair over her shoulder, saying, "Yeah? You wanna brag about the last Quidditch match where a certain Slytherin chaser scored in the wrong set of hoops?"

The sneer fell off his face and was replaced with a light pink tinge to his cheeks. The subject was a sore subject with Scorpius, and he was obviously not over the embarrassment. To be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault. The day before the game, he and Rose had gotten in a fight, and she cursed him so bad that his colors were all mixed up. He couldn't tell green from red to save his life. He should have been able to tell which goal was his based on who the Keeper was, but, unfortunately for him, the Gryffindor and Slytherin Keepers are identical twins. There's absolutely no way to tell them apart unless they're wearing their house colors, which Scorpius couldn't see. To give him credit, he only made the mistake once and more than made up for it with his stellar performance. Even though Slytherin had won the match, people remembered his blunder more than the 8 other goals her scored that night. Angry that she had dared to bring up the forbidden incident, Scorpius went after what he knew would rile her up: her romantic status. "Well, even after _that _happened," Scorpius said, unable to speak of the loathsome event, "I was able to find someone to comfort me. You know, kiss away my sorrows. When was the last time you and Davies even held hands?"

Paul Davies was Rose's recent ex-boyfriend who had dumped her for a girl with a, ummm… more top heavy figure. The sting of their break up was still rather strong for Rose, so it wasn't unexpected when she shot back angrily, "I, at least, date people with actual intelligence, not just run around with the first stupid bimbo to walk my way, only to pick up another one the next week. Anyone like that is bound to die miserable and lonely."

Scorpius was known to date rather dumb girls and be a bit of a player, but he never cheated on any of his girlfriends, nor did he treat them badly. Rose had exaggerated the situation quite a bit. As far as I knew, Scorp had had a total of six girlfriends in the last two years, but all his relationships lasted more than a week like Rose implied. "It won't be for lack of offers though Weasley. Why don't you just give up now? I'd be glad to get your cat collection off to a start," Scorp said sweetly.

Rose glared at him, but answered in an equally sweet voice, leaning toward him, "How kind of you, but I can think of several other things I'd rather you do, like stick your face in a cauldron of acid perhaps."

"I'll do that if you exile yourself and go live with Grawp to save all the decent people of the world from your stuck-up personality."

"My stuck-up personality? That's rich coming from Mr. I-won't-drink-pumpkin-juice-because-it-is-made-from-a-plant-that-sat-on-the-ground."

"Juice should only be made from fruit that grows on trees, you bushy-haired know-it-all."

"Spineless Slytherin!"

"Uptight, Gryffindor loser!"

"Ferret faced coward!"

"Bossy, unloved flobberworm!"

Rose looked at him murderously before yelling, "AL, HURRY UP!" and stomping outside to the garden. Scorpius crossed his arms and scolwed. He, James, and I sat in silence for a minute before I decided to break it: "That went well."

"Oh, shut up," Scorpius muttered as he got up and followed her out the door. James waited until he was out of earshot before digging in his pocket. "Extendable Ear?" he offered, holding out the flesh colored string he pulled from his pocket. I grinned and took one. Man, I love that boy. I fit it in my ear just in time to hear Scorpius say uncertainly, "Rose? Are you okay?"

James and I moved to the window and saw that Rose was sitting on the bench in the corner of the garden, trying to ignore the boy standing in front of her. "Why do you care? Want to make sure I can handle a few more insults?" she didn't sound upset, more angry than anything.

Scorp sighed, "Look Rose, I'm sorry. I just got a little carried away. 'Ferret faced coward' just kind of got to me. It was rather creative."

Rose let out a small chuckle, "It _was _one of my better ones, but I suppose 'coward' was a bit strong."

"Coward? I was talking about the 'ferret faced' part! I was truly offended!" he said, pretending to be affronted.

She laughed for real this time, causing Scorpius to smile: "I'll be careful to leave out the ferret references next time I insult you. Would allusion to your lack of skin pigment be more appropriate?"

"Yes, I think I can handle that if I'm allowed to make fun of your complete lack of coordination," Scorpius countered. I smiled. Unfortunately for her, Rose had inherited her father's clumsy gene, but had it under more control than he did.

Rose put on a fake serious face, held out her hand, and said, "I think we have a deal Mr. Malfoy."

Scorpius shook her hand and nodded his head, replying, "I look forward to our next round of insults."

"Rose!" Al called from his window, "I'm ready!"

"Alright! Be there in a second!" she screamed back. She smiled at Scorpius, and he watched her walk back toward the house. Right as she got to the door, he called, "Weasley."

She turned back toward him with a questioning glance.

"There's something I forgot to tell you earlier."

She nodded for him to continue.

"Well… I got more O.W.L.s than you, I got more O.W.L.s than you," he taunted in a singsong voice, adding a little victory dance to go with it.

"Malfoy!"

Like I said: it never gets old.


	2. Hermione

**A/N: The characters do not belong to me.**

**Hermione**

"Let's go Mum! Hurry up! We want to get there before the crowds!"

Digging through my new beaded bag for Hugo's book list, I called back to my daughter, "Relax Rose, the store hasn't even opened yet. There will be plenty of time to get your books."

Yes, I know, it's a shocking day when Hermione Granger, now Weasley, is not in a hurry to get to the book store. Believe it or not, Rose is way worse than I ever was. She loves being the first one in Flourish and Blotts the day after she gets her book list. She gets a copy of each book she needs, drinking in that new book scent whenever she thinks no one is looking. For the rest of the day, the whole day mind you, she immerses herself in the fiction section, perusing to her heart's content.

I humor her because I understand her fascination with the written word, but mainly because she refuses to leave until the store closes. Several years ago, both Ron and Hugo stopped coming with us, because neither has been granted the gift of patience. After about a half an hour, the two of them would get bored and start causing trouble. In Rose's second year, they had engaged in a rather raucous game of tag (why they thought that was a good game to play in a book store escapes me), and they knocked over the entire Transfiguration section. The mess was worse than the time Mr. Weasely and Mr. Malfoy got in a fight before our second year. After that episode, I decided it was a good idea if Rose and I went alone, and I bought Hugo's books.

I met my impatient daughter at the fireplace and said, "Alright. I'm ready. After you."

Rose grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder, called, "The Leaky Cauldron," and vanished with a roar of fire.

Grasping my bag tightly, I followed her example, and after a warm but dizzying ride, found myself in the Leaky Cauldron. The moment I appeared, Rose grabbed my hand and pulled me off to buy everything on our list before spending the rest of the day in Flourish and Blotts.

At the speed we were going we had finished in less than half an hour and arrived at the book store right as the owner opened the door for business. He greeted us warmly, but Rose had already disappeared behind the shelves. I love books too, but that girl's enthusiasm is just ridiculous. Rolling my eyes and giving the owner an apologetic shrug, I made my way toward the shelves to do my own browsing.

I had finished buying Hugo's books and had been waiting for at least two hours when I peered around the shelf I was sitting by to see Rose's progress. She had moved from the authors with A names, through the B's, and was about halfway through the C's. She was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't notice the boy coming up behind her until he spoke in her ear.

"You don't want that one."

Rose gasped, dropped the book, and spun around quickly to find herself face-to-face with Scorpius Malfoy. He quickly bent down and picked up the book, holding it out so she could take it. "I'm sorry," he said apologetically to Rose, who had leaned up against the bookshelf, eyes closed, and hand clutching her heart. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Rose took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Scorpius was still holding out the book and smiling in a slightly scared and grimacing way, clearly afraid that Rose's Weasley temper would flare up and he would be injured by proximity. She raised an eyebrow at him and contemplated his face for a moment before deciding not to go all nuclear on him. Taking the book from his hand, she hit him gently on the arm with the book and asked, "Why don't I want this book?"

Realizing he was in the clear, the grimace left his face, and he replied, "'Cause it's boring. The beginning is slow, and the middle is even slower. Besides, you'd like this one better."

He picked a book off the shelf just out of her reach and handed it to her. Skeptically, she took it and glanced at the cover. "And what makes you think I would like _The Wizard's Promise_?" she questioned him, clearly positive that he was completely making this up and trying to mess with her. I myself suspected something was up. This was a different side of Scorpius than the cocky best friend of James I had seen multiple times at family gatherings.

Scorpius shrugged, "It got 4 and a half out of 5 wands by the _Quibbler._ Plus," he grinned what I'm sure he thought was a charming smile, "I liked it, and I have the best taste it books. Or in anything really." There's the overconfident boy that I secretly think would be a perfect for my daughter. Don't tell Ron. I don't pretend to dislike the boy, but Ron has no idea how much I really like him. I think it would kill him if he did.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You can't go an hour without letting your arrogant ways take over your actions, can you?"

"I can, I just choose not to," he said. He changed topics, "So, what are you getting here?"

Rose smirked and said teasingly, "Well… we're in a book store. That usually means people are here to buy _books_. I thought the Great Scorpius Malfoy would be smart enough to figure that out."

Scorpius took the ribbing rather graciously. "It must have slipped my mind," he said sarcastically. He then continued, sans sarcasm, "What I meant was what books are you buying for class, or, more specifically, what classes are you taking this year?"

"Everything," Rose responded without hesitation.

Scorpius looked confused. "Everything?" he asked, "Surely _everything_ isn't necessary for whatever you want to be when we get out of school. What is it you want to be?"

I waited with anticipation for her answer. I had been trying to get the same thing out of her for months, but she always gave me some goofy answer like shark tamer or carpet seller or dentist (yes, I know my parents are dentists).

Rose looked down at the book in her hands and mumbled unintelligibly. Scorpius leaned in closer, "Sorry. What was that? I couldn't hear you over the noise in this crowded book store." He gestured around to the empty rows of shelves. Pointing dramatically at a corner of the store, he play shouted, "Quiet down you lot! I can't hear over your yammering!" Apparently, the imaginary group in the corner threw a rather rude comment back at him because he yelled in the same direction with at stern look on his face, "Don't make me come over there!"

He made to march over there and beat up his invisible foes, but Rose grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Laughing quietly at his antics, Rose finally answered his question, "I don't know what I want to do, or be, after school. I can't make up my mind. I like everything, but nothing well enough to pursue it for the rest of my life. I'm taking everything so I can leave my options open."

Scorpius contemplated her for a while, then nodded his head and said, "That's smart. Leaving nothing out."

Rose stared at him disbelievingly, "What? No sarcastic comment like, 'The know-it-all doesn't know something. The world must be coming to an end' or 'Gee Weasley, how can you live with being the failure of the entire Weasley clan?'"

Scorpius chuckled. "No," he said, "You'll figure it all out soon enough. You always do." When Rose looked slightly touched at his rather thoughtful comment, he smirked and added, "Besides, you looked too sad, and it's no fun picking on a sad person. You can't make them feel any worse than they already do."

Knowing full well that he was joking, but not wanting him to get away with such a terrible pronouncement, Rose smacked him in the stomach with _The Wizard's Promise_ before asking, "Ok Mr. Heartless, what are you taking then?"

"Oh, you know, the usual torture: Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care Magical Creatures."

"What are you studying to be?"

Scorpius ran his fingers through his hair, "I was thinking of being a Healer, or an Auror if I get the grades."

Rose nodded, then furrowed her eyebrows, and asked, "Don't you need Arithmancy for Healing?"

Scorpius groaned, "Yeah… I forgot. Errrg. I hate that class. Not only is the subject complete rubbish, but I'm pretty sure the teacher hates me." A thoughtful look came over his face, "You know, I can never figure out why, no matter how hard I try."

Rose snorted, "You ever think it could be because you filled his desk with snake eyes?"

Scorpius thought about for a minute, then shook his head and said, "No. I don't think so. It's got to be because I'm so handsome, and he can never hope to look as good as me, what with that third nostril." He made a face, "Actually, I'm not sure that's even a nostril. That's probably not what they call it when it's in the middle of his cheek."

Rose laughed and smiled a genuine smile, one that lit her entire face, and seeing it made Scorpius reflexively respond with his own. It was a beautiful sight. You may laugh at me for saying that and attribute it to motherly love and the desire for my children to settle down and live the cliché happily-ever-after life, but you would have thought the same thing.

A voice next to me voiced my thoughts. "They're cute together," it said.

Turning to my right, I was somehow not surprised to see Astoria Malfoy gazing fondly at the two children. We had never really talked before. Sure, we would politely nod at each other when in public, but I never sought her out, nor she me. She was a very well put together woman in her well tailored robes, but I would expect nothing less of a Malfoy. Astoria strikes a rather imposing figure, but something in the way she looked at the children made me feel comfortable talking to her.

I looked back at Rose and Scorpius talking together and nodded. "They really are," I said. "Who would have thought it? I mean, we're all pretty sure they like each other, but I never would have guessed on their first day of Hogwarts."

She smiled, "I did."

"How?"

"I knew because they would make beautiful grandchildren." She gestured in their direction, adding, "Just look at them." She gazed at them with a slightly far off look, as if she were naming said grandchildren.

It was silent for a minute as I just stared at her. She continued to look at the kids until she realized I wasn't saying anything. She looked down at me and laughed at the expression on my face. "I'm kidding," she put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "I knew by the way we, or Draco, and your husband I'd wager, set them against each other. Tempting fate they were."

I contemplated her answer for a moment, and she went back to watching Rose and Scorpius interact. I don't believe in fate, if my actions in Divination class are anything to go by, but I could see her point. Pointing them out to each other made them more interesting and mysterious than the other Hogwarts students. It was only a matter of time.

The two of us watched in silence as Scorpius imitated some teacher they had and Rose tried to contain her shrieks of laughter. They reminded me of myself and Ron. Most of the time they were fighting, but every once in a while they would get it right and something beautiful would happen. Beautiful enough to make up for all the petty fighting.

Astoria shook herself out of the daydream she had been immersed in and smiled at me, "Well, I must be off. Scorpius and I have a lot more to buy. I swear I have to buy him new robes every month. He just keeps growing!" Her smile increased, and she added in a joking manner, "Good bye. I look forward to getting to know you better once they are married."

Laughing, she walked away, calling to Scorpius as she did, "Scorpius, dear. We need to get going. Say goodbye to your lovely friend!"

Scorpius blushed slightly at his mother's "lovely" comment, but called back, "Alright! Coming Mum!"

He looked at Rose again and said, "Well, Weasley, it looks like I have to go. As strange as this sounds, you did not completely bore me with your presence. Keep up the good work."

Rose rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "You weren't too boring yourself. Try not to trip over your ego on the way out."

Scorpius smirked. "Goodbye, Rose," he said, gently squeezing her shoulder in farewell, "Try not to miss me too much." He winked and walked away, leaving a statue-like Rose standing there with a slightly confused look on her face.

After about a minute of such behavior, Rose looked around and spotted me in my waiting chair. She slowly made her way over to me, the confused look still on her face. "I think I'm ready to go," she told me absently.

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "But you only made it through the Cs, and you only have one book."

"Huh?" she looked at me like she had just realized I was there, "Oh. I only want this one."

I smirked inwardly. "Alright, go check out then."

Rose went to pay for her book while I gathered up my purchases. Then, we left the shop and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. Being a mother (and by that I mean naturally nosy), I said, "It looked like you and Scorpius were getting along rather well. The way you always talk about him makes it seem like you're always fighting. Did something change?"

"No. I don't know. No? I still hate him," she answered, but her tone was very unconvincing.

"Funny, it looked like you two were almost… friends," I said as we walked into the pub.

She seemed to consider my words before stepping into the fireplace and flooing home. I watched my daughter disappear in a flash of green flames, wondering how long it would take her to realize her feelings. It had taken me six years. If that was anything to go by, Rose was right on schedule to make her own discovery.

What do you think of the name Carina Malfoy?

I think I'll run it by Astoria.


	3. Albus

**A/N: The characters do not belong to me.**

**Albus**

I breathed deeply, taking in the fresh scent of fall air right before it gets too cold to be outside without a jacket. I leaned my head against the stone wall of the Astronomy Tower, my eyes closed to shield them from the afternoon sun. Classes were done for the day, and I wanted to enjoy the nice weather while I still could. I slid down the wall into a sitting position and let the silence wash away the stress from my last lesson: Potions. I had unfortunately inherited my father's potions skills, or should I say lack thereof? It's not my fault that I added newt eyes instead of salamander eyes. How the hell are you supposed to tell them apart? How was I supposed to know that adding newt eyes would cause my cauldron to melt before bursting into flames and burning a hole through Slughorn's pants as he tried to put out the fire? If failing the assignment wasn't enough, I now had detention with Filch, and had to send an owl home begging for another cauldron. It would be my fourth this term. My mother was going to freak. Dad would understand though. I didn't have a book with perfect instructions like he had.

I often came up here to think, and, if I'm being perfectly honest, get away from James' taunting. Why did he have to be so good at potions? He was barely competent at everything else. Why potions, my worst class? I sighed at the injustice of it all and opened my eyes. I blinked a few times to let my eyes adjust to the brightness, and then took in my familiar surroundings. The Astronomy Tower was not a popular place to hang out- one of the things I liked best about it- mainly because of its lack of comfortable places to sit. The floor was hard, cold stone, and the wind was often colder and more relentless up here, but I felt drawn to this place, for a reason that I'm kind of embarrassed of. I would never admit this to anyone, especially my brother because he would never let me live it down, but I come up here because I feel more connected to my namesakes when I'm here. Before you start jumping to conclusions and thinking, "Albus, that's so weird and morbid! This is where one of the men you are named after killed the other! What is wrong with you? I'm shipping you off to St. Mungo's right now!", let me explain.

Ever since I was little, people have teased me about my name, and I can completely understand why. I mean, Albus Severus? What was my dad thinking? Not only are those pretty much their strangest names in wizard history, but their grouped with the last name Potter, which would have been bad enough without such odd first and second names. The only positive part of my name is that Albus can easily be shorted to Al, which is way less embarrassing. I hated my name until my Dad felt I was old enough to hear the story behind it. When he told me that Albus Dumbledore had been such a strong mentor and influence over his life and how Severus Snape had worked against Voldemort because of his all consuming love for my grandmother, I understood why Dad had named me what he did. That didn't mean I had to like it- I mean, he could have easily distributed the terrible names. James could have been James Severus and I could have been Albus Sirius, but he decided to give James both the cool names- , but I understood. As cliché as this sounds, I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. At the tender age of 8 I had had an epiphany, or as much of one as you can have when you're 8. It went something like this: I shouldn't judge something before hearing the story behind it. As I got older, I took this idea and applied it to people and historical events. I like to understand people's history before I judge their actions.

For example, most people would say that Lily plays beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team because she wants to prove that girls are just as good at beating as boys, but I know it's because of an accident James had while playing one summer. Before the incident, Lily always played Chaser like Mum, but when she saw the way the bludger had crushed the entire left side of James' body, she took it upon herself to become the best beater ever so she could protect him from any further injuries. She had never told anyone, and I'm not even sure she knew it herself, but if you watch the way she plays carefully, you can tell that she's crazy protective of her teammates, especially James. She goes out of her way not to hurt the other team either. She hits the bludger with such precision that she only hits the Quaffle out of their hands, never allowing the bludger to touch their skin. Without knowing Lily's history, people assume that she is just being a feminist, but her motivations have become clear to me through her past. You may think I know this just because I'm her brother, but I swear she didn't tell me, I'm just that good (I'm allowed to be cocky sometimes, it's not a trait that belongs solely to James). People's past reveals a lot about themselves and why they act the way they do. It's like a giant puzzle, and I like to put the pieces of the past together with those of the present. This may be why History of Magic is my favorite subject.

This is something the rest of my family never understood. They think it's the most boring class ever invented, which it is because of Binns, but if they actually read the textbook or paid attention in class (wow. I just sounded like Aunt Hermione. Bleh.), they would know that there's so much more to it. Whenever I get into one of my historical moods, they all leave as fast as they can. The only one who indulges me is Dad, and I think he only does so because he realizes the importance of personal histories. I mean, he had to learn all he could about Voldemort to defeat him. He gets it, but he still thinks it's boring and zones out every time. Someday, I'm going to freeze them all with Petrificus Totalus and make them listen to me. I know I could make it more exciting than Binns, which is why it's my dream job to teach History of Magic. It will never come true, however, because Binns will teach it forever. I mean that literally. He can't die again. Hogwarts students 'til the end of time will have to suffer through Binns' sleep inducing lectures.

Anyway, I'm way off topic. Back to my name and fascination (or obsession. You choose.)with the Astronomy Tower. I came here to feel closer to both Dumbledore and Snape because I think this location represents a very demonstrative moment in their relationship. It is a great illustration of their dynamic. Snape trusted Dumbledore so much that he went against his own instincts. He killed Dumbledore, my Dad's best chance at survival, and trusted him when he said everything would work out in the end. Dumbledore trusted Snape to do his job, and even though the two of them disagreed, Dumbledore knew Snape was loyal and would do what's right. Their trust for each other was clear in the moment Snape killed Dumbledore. Wow. I just sounded like a super nerd. I now know why Fred calls me Aldorkus Severlameus (I didn't say it was creative) and James thinks I'm a stick in the mud. As for the morbidity of the situation, I'd rather come here than visit the Headmaster's office. I think McGonagall would get suspicious if I kept visiting her.

In the middle of contemplating the relationship between Dumbledore and Snape for about the millionth time, I hear shouts that I recognized immediately as the voices of two of my favorite research subjects. They had no idea that I was observing them, and researching their pasts, because if they did, they'd be freaked out and call me a creeper. I'm not creepy, I'm just curious. I eased myself up from the ground and peered over the edge of the wall. Down below, I saw my favorite cousin Rose walking up toward the main entrance of the castle with Scorpius Malfoy. Rose had a book in her hand. I assumed she had been taking advantage of the weather like I was to read whatever novel she was caught up in these days. From the looks of it, she had been on her way up to dinner when Scorpius had caught up to her on his way back from Quidditch practice. As was customary, the two of them had begun to argue about something that I couldn't hear. Being my father's son, I took out a pair of Uncle George's new and improved Extendable Ears- for long distances- that I keep in my pocket and lowered them toward the arguing students. Stick-in-the-mud? Psh. That'll show James (By the way, I sneak out of bed way more often than he does. I just never get caught. Who's lame now?).

Pretty soon I could hear everything they were saying, and I was not surprised to hear that it was a completely stupid argument. Most of their arguments are stupid, but I never get tired of listening to them. They _fascinate_ me. This particular one was about who's Patronus was cooler.

"A manatee? Seriously?" Scorpius' voice came into focus first. "You think that's cooler than a hawk? No way. A manatee is pretty much the lamest sea animal ever. Now if you were a shark, _that_ would be cool. "

Rose squared her shoulders at his hit on manatees and retorted, "Well at least a manatee is a unique animal. A hawk is so _commonplace_. Now that I think about it, you _would _be a bird of prey. Seeking out those weaker than you and pouncing." I would have taken this opportunity to tease them and point out that hawks mate for life, but I didn't want them to know I was being nosy for my own entertainment. Rose would kill me.

"Pouncing? Hawks don't pounce, they swoop," Scorpius said with a smirk. "I thought the daughter of the 'smartest witch of her age' would know something as simple as that." Rose's mouth dropped open in anger, but before she could spit out what was sure to be an angry reply, he added, "Anyways, you know hawks are cooler than manatees, you just don't want to admit it."

Personally, I agreed with Scorpius on this one. Hawks were pretty awesome. Not that manatees were lame, but come on, a majestic flying predator, or a swimming sea cow? It wasn't much of a competition. Of course, my Patronus is cooler than both theirs combined. A pegasus. Beat that.

Scorpius had a talent for pushing Rose's buttons, and interrupting her; or not allowing her to speak her mind, as he had just done; was something that really riled her up. I could tell she was about to say something very insulting, but both Scorpius and myself were saved from her wrath by loud and callous laughter. At the sound, Rose and Scorpius' attentions were diverted from each other to a group of four people a short ways across the lawn. I followed their gaze and was just able to make out the forms of three Slytherin six and seventh years and my own sister Lily. The Slytherins, the Goyle brothers and Alexa Goldwith –daughter of Pansy Parkinson, had surrounded Lily and seemed to be taunting her. Unable to hear what they were saying, I placed my Extendable Ear back in my pocket and cast a Sonorous on the group. The first thing I heard was Lily shout defiantly, "Take that back Goldwith! My father is not a fame seeking loser who only takes credit for what others have done! He's a genuine hero, and if you don't take back what you said, I'll make you."

Despite being enraged at Goldwith's comment, I couldn't help but admire my sister's courage. A lone fourth year standing up to a hand full of sixth and seventh years. She really deserved to wear her scarlet and gold. The younger Goyle brother, Gary, shoved her to the ground, laughing at her show of bravado, his brother giving him a high-five for his work. Glancing back at Rose and Scorpius, I saw that they had both stiffened angrily, narrowed their eyes at the Slytherins, and, without consulting the other, stalked toward the group, ready to make their presence known.

As an aside, I would like to point out that I would have loved to go to my sister's aid and give those slimy tossers the thrashing they deserved, but I was at the top of the Astronomy Tower. The quickest way for me to get down was to jump, and I didn't really trust my chances of sticking the landing. If I had taken the way through the castle, I would have missed the entire thing and been no use at all. I decided to stay where I was and leave the fight to Rose and Scorpius. I would do anything I could to protect them and Lily if anything got too intense. I could easily cast a Shield charm from this advantageous point and cover all three of them if it came down to it.

"Hey!" Rose yelled angrily. The Slytherins turned around to face her, eyes lighting up at the chance for more insults. "Does it really take three of you to take on a fourth year? What is wrong with you? Wait," she held up her hand to stop them from replying, "don't answer that. I already know that your mothers fed you too much You-No-Poo as babies." Scorp laughed derisively, discreetly placing himself between the Slytherins and Lily, helping her off the ground.

Alexa and the Goyles scowled, drawing their wands from their pockets. Vincent, the elder Goyle, snarled at Rose, "Shut up Weasely. No one asked your opinion. You think you're such a big shot because of your parents and uncle, but you're just as delusional as they are if you think people care what you think. No one cares what you, or they, think, so do us all a favor and don't speak." At these last words, he cast a Silencing charm on her, preventing her from verbally defending her family.

Scorpius, who is fiercely loyal to Dad and thinks of Lily as a sister, had had enough. "Listen here Goyle," he said threateningly, poking his wand into Goyle's chest, "No one insults the Potter family in front of me. They are heroes who deserve the respect of scum like you. If I remember correctly, my father told me that you wouldn't exist right now if it hadn't been for the mercy of Harry Potter and Rose's parents, so you owe them your life." He looked Goyle up and down in disgust. "You should try harder to be worthy of their actions you sorry excuse for a person." Scorp turned away and began to usher Lily back toward the castle.

Goyle let out a cry of outrage and began to cast a hex at Malfoy's back. Rose, however, saw his intensions and was able to cast a Shield charm just in time, despite being Silenced. Pushing Lily out of the way, Scorpius turned back around as the other Goyle yelled a curse at him. Dodging the spell, Scorpius made his way toward Rose, both of them taking their fighting stances and facing off against the three Slytherins. Now, I'd like to say that the Goyle brothers took after their father and were slow, dumb, and lazy, but it was not so. They had inherited brains and skill from their mother, a former student of Durmstrang. Goldwith also had dueling prowess, which I knew firsthand from DADA class. Not wanting Lily to get hurt and knowing she would be outmatched in a duel with any of them , I immobilized her from a distance and cast a long lasting Shield charm on her, insuring no harm would befall her.

Though the odds favored the Slytherins, Rose and Scorpius were not top of the class for nothing. Rose quickly evened the playing field with a well placed Stunning spell to Gary Goyle's chest. He crumpled, causing his brother to yell in frustration and redouble his efforts.

Watching Rose and Scorpius duel was astounding. They seemed to work flawlessly together, more like an individual being instead of two separate entities, shooting hexes at their opponents while watching each other's backs. It was incredible. I suppose they were used to the way the other fought because they were always paired off in class. The fight increased in intensity, curses flying faster than they could be cast (I know that's not possible, but I'm allowed to exaggerate to get my point across. Geez. Lay off.), and tempers rising with it. Goldwith and Goyle became increasingly angry at the impenetrability of their foes, and Goyle roared in irritation, letting his guard down temporarily. That was his fatal (well, not really. He lived.) mistake. Rose hit him with a perfectly executed Stunner, sending him toppling next to his brother.

Her attention distracted by her spell casting, Rose failed to see Goldwith turn in her direction and cast a Stunner of her own. "DUCK, RO!" Scorpius yelled at her. She turned just in time to see the spell bounce off the hastily constructed Shield charm he had produced and watch as he skillfully dispatched of Goldwith with an excellent Body-Bind Curse. Goldwith's limbs sprang to her sides before she fell over, as if in slow-motion, onto the Goyle brothers.

The two of them stood there for a moment, breathing heavily and taking in the effects of their work, before remembering Lily standing as still as a statue behind them. Waving her wand, Rose unfroze her cousin and went to see if she was alright. Malfoy followed closely behind her.

"You ok, Lils?" he asked, throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah. Thanks," she replied, but added reproachfully, "You didn't have to freeze me though, I could have taken Gary."

"I didn't do that," Scorp said. "Rose?"

She shrugged and shook her head. I ducked behind the wall, hoping they hadn't spotted me. "Must have been one of _them_," I hear Lily say. She then said, "Why haven't you said anything Rose?" Feeling it was safe for me to emerge and resume my observing (not creeping), I peeked over the wall again in time to see Rose gesturing at her throat and Score and Lily giving her confused looks. After pantomiming her inability to talk for about a minute, Scorpius caught on and removed the silencing charm. She cleared her throat and said, "Thanks. Took you long enough to guess."

Lily chuckled, "You've never been very good at Charades Rose. Thanks again for your help, but I have to go meet Matt for dinner. See you later." She gave them both an affectionate hug (at the same time) and left them standing there awkwardly.

Rose shuffled her feet and Scorpius scratched his head absently, neither of them seeming to know how to proceed after their brief alliance to defend the Potter family. I thought for sure they would continue their pointless argument about Patroni (I don't really know the plural of Patronus, but that sounds right. Right?) or start another of similar pointlessness, but Rose surprised me by breaking the silence with a rather civilized tone of voice.

"Ro?" she asked.

Scorpius looked totally lost. "What?"

"You called me Ro. Not Weasley, not Rose, but Ro. Why?" The way she asked held an air of curiosity. She didn't seem to mind him calling her that.

"Oh. Um…" Scorpius looked rather uncomfortable. "You know. Heat of the battle. Didn't have time to spit out your whole name. Ro was faster." Though his sentences came out more like questions, Rose seemed to accept his explanation. I, on the other hand, was pretty sure that's what he calls her in his head, but it accidentally slipped out. I'll have to ask James. He would know.

"Ok. Well, thank you for defending my family and Lily. That was nice of you." Nice. Understatement of the year, Rose.

"I'm glad to. I owe Mr. Potter a lot, and Lily is the closest think I have to a sister. I have to use my overprotective tendencies on someone," Scorpius said with a smile. "Maybe we should, uh, head to dinner," he suggested.

Rose smiled back at him, nodding consent, "Alright. We'd better hurry if we want there to be any pudding left." Laughing, the two of them ran up to the castle, leaving the unconscious Slytherin students behind.

I watched them go, pondering the interaction I had just witnessed. If baffled me how the two of them could go to irritating the pants off each other to running off gleefully to dinner together within such a small period of time. No matter how often I watch them together, they never fail to baffle me. He may be the son of a Death Eater trying to prove to the world that his family is truly sorry for what they did, and she may be the daughter of two renowned and admired heroes of the Second War, but despite these differences, they can put their histories aside and work as a seamless team for what they believe in. Now, I could go on to explain why each believes what they do based on their families' pasts, but that would take several hours I do not have. Although I think I have a good grasp on the influence of personal histories on people's actions, I must admit that Rose and Scorpius remind me of something every time I see them interact: human nature is undeniably surprising.


	4. Hugo

**A/N: I don't own the characters.**

**Point of clarification: In this story, Scorpius is a Slytherin. In the last chapter, during the duel, I grouped Rose and Scorpius into one group and their opponents into another and called them "the Slytherins" to save time so I wouldn't have to list their names every time. I apologize, **bickering sidekicks**, for the confusion.**

**PS: This is the halfway point.**

**Hugo**

I couldn't believe it. I have to be the most irresponsible person in the whole castle. I mean, who else would get a Dugbog for his birthday and lose it? Uncle Charlie and Hagrid would be so disappointed in me. How was I supposed to get a career in looking after magical creatures if I couldn't go a week without losing my pets? I mean, I usually find them before something dangerous happened (except that one time I thought it would be a good idea to take my baby manticore for a late night walk. It chewed through its leash, and ran away before I could stop it. By the time I found it, it had attacked Mrs. Norris and almost killed her. She needed to go to St. Mungo's veterinary ward, and Filch has hated me even since. He gives me detention every time he sees me, even if I'm not doing anything. I've taken to walking down the hall next to James and Scorpius, hoping they will do something stupid to direct Filch's attention from me.), but then, maybe it isn't a good idea to raise bowtruckles in my bed room. They nearly gouged my dorm mates' eyes out. Anyway, I needed to find this dugbog before someone mistook him for a log-he looks remarkably like one so he can blend into the swamp-and tries to sit on him. No one, or no creature, really likes being sat on, and I don't think that would end well considering the size of his sharp teeth.

I had searched the dungeons, the Astronomy Tower, the kitchens, the Great Hall, all the dormitories, even the Room of Requirement (I don't know how it would know how to get in there, but it was worth a shot.), but I found nothing. Being the creature genius that I am, I even looked all the places that resemble a marsh, the dugbog's habitat, but found nothing. I really thought I would strike gold in Myrtle's bathroom-it's always flooded; therefore, kinda marsh like- but no such luck. I was on my way out to the grounds when I walked past the library and saw my sister Rose sitting at one of the tables writing some essay. Rose is pretty much the genius of the family, so I decided to ask if she had seen my dugbog or had any idea where he could be.

"Hey Rose!" I called and jogged over to her table. She smiled at me as I sat down in the chair next to her.

"Hey Hugo. What's up?"

"Well…" I said, unsure how to tell her a living, magical log was loose somewhere on the grounds. "You know Martin?"

She looked confused, "The illegal dugbog Uncle George got you for your birthday?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"Have you seen him?" I asked with a half hopeful, half guilty smile on my face.

"Hugo!" she cried indignantly, putting her hands over her eyes and shaking her head. She was going into big sister lecture mode. "You just got Martin for your birthday a week ago! You're fifteen years old! Don't you think it's time you were more responsible (I had already admitted that.)?" She took her hands off her face and looked at me. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's probably not a good idea to keep your "pets" in the castle?"

"Well, where am I supposed to keep them?" I asked indignantly. "The Chamber of Secrets? The only way to get in is using Parsletounge. I'm pretty sure Lily would never help me get in again after what happened last time." She looked at me incredulously. "What?" I added. "I've considered it. I even went as far as looking around the place, but it's too inconvenient." I wasn't totally irresponsible. I knew I couldn't keep my pets in my room much longer. I was running out of space.

She looked at me as if weighing options in her head before asking hesitantly, "What happened last time?"

I flinched and was about to make up some completely bogus answer, but was saved by another person strolling up to the table and plopping down across from Rose. "Hey Weasley," Scorpius said to Rose. "Weasley," he nodded at me.

I nodded back, "Malfoy." He's really not that bad of a guy. I mean, he's super annoying, but what else would you expect from James' best friend. Anyway, the guy had impeccable timing. I was grateful. Rose turned toward him, her face set in a look that plainly said 'I'm going to try to tolerate you, so make it easy on both of us and don't do anything stupid', but there was also a flush to her cheeks that hadn't been there before.

"What Malfoy?" she said.

"You," he leaned toward her, placing his elbows on the table, "are going to study History of Magic with me."

Rose looked at him in disbelief. "I don't want to study with you."

He seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Noted," he said. "Filed," he pointed to his head. "And ignored," he leaned back in his chair carelessly. Why did he have to look so cool doing that? I'm pretty sure I could never pull it off. The look on Rose's face seemed to agree with me (about Malfoy looking cool, not about me not pulling it off). She had a strange look on her face, like she was trying to decide whether to give in or be incredibly annoyed at his arrogance. After a moment, she seemed to decide to be annoyed, because the weird look vanished, and she scowled at him.

"Why would I help you?"

He smirked at her and whispered conspiratorially, "Because you love me. And who wouldn't want to spend time with this?" He gestured at himself. Gag.

I'm pretty sure he was right about her loving him, but I could have told him that was a bad thing to say. Rose didn't like people telling her what to think or feel. She smiled condescendingly at him, "Well, Malfoy, if you think that me yelling at you all the time means I love you, I hate to think about the kind of relationship your parents have." Malfoy's smirk fell off his face. I couldn't tell if it was from disappointment, or shock that she had insulted his parents. "And as for 'all that'" she continued, mimicking his gesture, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at."

Malfoy was silent for a moment, which made Rose laugh in triumph. She had rendered the all powerful Scorpius Malfoy speechless. I was pretty surprised myself. He always had a response. Her laugh seemed to bring him back to life. He quickly lost the surprised look and replaced it with a smile. "Well done Rose. It's been a pleasure arguing with you, and you have won this round." His smile got bigger as he added as an afterthought, "For once." Rose looked like she was about to retort, but he continued, "Now can we study?"

"No! I'll ask again: why would I help you?"

Malfoy looked uncomfortable and looked down at his hands. He took a minute trying to decide whether or not to tell us, then mumbled something I couldn't hear. Rose, however, heard perfectly fine and burst into laughter. "You're failing?" she laughed again, slapping her hand against the table in mirth. "That is the best news I've heard all day!"

Malfoy looked pissed. "Yeah. Laugh it up Weasley. It's bad enough that I have to resort to coming for you for help. Will you help me now?"

"No," she said decidedly.

"Come on Weasley," he implored. "You can't let me fail. How could you live with that on your conscience? I don't think you could."

"I think I'd cope somehow," she replied nastily.

Malfoy sighed, "I really didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. If I don't pass, I will haunt you even more annoyingly than I do now to remind you that it was all your fault. You have a chance to prevent that, you heartless girl."

Rose brushed off his attempt to make her feel guilty, "Go bother someone else Malfoy."

He changed tactics. "But I need _your _help," he said, completely serious this time, practically pleading with her. "No one knows the material like you do, and I know you'd be a really good teacher. Please, Ro."

If the flattery didn't work, he had her with the pet name. He was the only one allowed to call her that. I tried it once, and she hexed me so badly I was seeing spots for a week. I must have got off lightly for being her brother because when James called her Ro, she cursed him so that every time someone said his name, he sang the Hogwarts anthem. It was hilarious and extremely embarrassing for James, but the Professors got so annoyed that they removed it too quickly for Rose's liking. I don't know what she did to him after that, but he avoided her like she had Dragon Pox for a month. I personally think she overreacted. I mean, I don't know why the rest of us can't call her that. It sounds the same, right? Well, anyway, when Malfoy said it, her resolve crumbled, and she seemed to melt. It was gross.

"Alright," she said, trying to cover up her meltage (yeah. I'm allowed to make up words), "but I'm not doing this for free. You owe me a favor."

"Deal," Malfoy agreed immediately, pulling his books out of his bag in order to begin studying.

Rose however, paused. "But you don't even know what it is yet. Aren't you afraid I'll make you do something terrible?"

Malfoy laughed. "Rosie, dear, you don't have the kind of conniving mind that could make me do something terrible. That's something us Slytherins have, not you Gryffindors. You could never pull it off. I'll be fine with whatever you come up with," he said confidently.

Rose looked affronted, probably at the insult to her scheming abilities, but maybe at his use of Rosie. She hates being called that. "Is that so?" she asked in a defensive tone. I took this as my cue to leave. I had been on the receiving end of that tone, and it never ended well. I don't know what Rose had on her mind, but as far as I was concerned, things were not going to end well for Scorpius Malfoy. He should know better than to challenge Rose Weasley by now.

I ran off to continue looking for Martin. I found him, by the way, in the Greenhouses once I remembered that dugbogs are particularly fond of eating Mandrakes. The good news: he only ate five of them before I got there. The bad news: Professor Longbottom was furious. He wrote home to my parents and tried to take all my pets away from me. Luckily, I was able to get James and Fred to sneak them out of my room and into theirs before Longbottom could take them. That didn't stop the Howler from coming though. I did find a place to hide them though. The Shrieking Shack! I know. Stroke of genius.

Anyway, it wasn't until a week later that Rose called in her favor.

Rose had rashly volunteered to help Hagrid clean out the hippogriff pen a month earlier. Once she came to her senses and saw the amount of work she would be doing, she decided that making Malfoy do it would be the perfect punishment. The day she was supposed to clean them out, she "sprained" her wrist and couldn't do the work. Instead, she and Hagrid watched as Malfoy shoveled tons of hippogriff waste out of their living space. He had to do it by hand because Hagrid insisted that magic would scare the hippogriffs and cause a stampede, seriously injuring Malfoy. He couldn't risk that kind of lawsuit again. It was awful (I mean _awful_. Even an animal freak like myself wouldn't want to do the job), but Malfoy couldn't really complain because he had gotten an O on the exam Rose helped him study for. Personally, I think he was slightly impressed at the level of horribleness of the favor she had thought up, seeing as he didn't complain the whole time.


	5. Lily

**A/N: I do not own the characters.**

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story. Your reviews are very encouraging. **

**PS: The next chapter is the one everyone is secretly, or not so secretly, waiting for. It might take me a while though. Be patient.**

**Lily**

"SCORPIUS MALFOY! Get back here!"

I sighed as I heard my cousin's voice bounce off the corridor walls, amplifying the anger in her voice. I had been trying to enjoy in the last few hours of relaxation before returning home for the holidays and not having a free moment myself for the entire Christmas season; because there's no such thing as privacy with my brother James around; but the quiet atmosphere I craved would soon be lost. It was never quiet when Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy were in the same room. Closing my book with a resigned air, I quickly got up from my spot on the floor and peeked around the tapestry that conceals my favorite reading nook, checking to see if the coast was clear. If neither Rose nor Scorpius were around yet, I could escape a rather awkward confrontation between the two. Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

Scorpius was strolling down the hall at a leisurely pace looking both extremely irritated and greatly pleased with himself. Rose was quickly catching up to him looking absolutely furious. Right in front of my hiding place, Rose grabbed Scorpius' arm and violently swung him around to face her, unwittingly trapping me behind the tapestry until both she and Scorpius had left. I considered casting the Muffliato spell on them so I wouldn't be subjected to their craziness, but I decided that this was too good a blackmailing opportunity to miss. It never hurt to have some dirt on Rose is case I ever need a favor.

Peeking through a hole in the tapestry, I watched as my angry cousin began to yell at Malfoy, cheeks red and arms waving in frustration.

"What is wrong with you?" she yelled at him, smacking his arm forcefully for emphasis. "Why do you always have to ruin everything?"

"Well…" he began to reply, but she cut him off.

"Do you always have to ruin any moment of happiness I have?"

To me, it looked like Scorpius was going to reply in the affirmative, but he didn't get the chance, again.

"What did you say to him?" she demanded, and Scorpius smirked and laughed to himself as if recalling a pleasant moment.

He stuck his hands in his pockets in a casual way, which seemed to infuriate Rose even more, before replying, "I simply had a chat with the guy about family."

Whatever Rose had expected, this was not it. "Family?" she asked uncertainly, and I noted that the volume of her voice had dropped considerably.

"Yeah. I was explaining to him what James had done to all your previous boyfriends when he found out you were dating them," Scorpius said, taking advantage of her temporary surprise to drop his bombshell. "He especially enjoyed the story about Mark Thomas."

I cringed as I remembered what James had done to Mark when he dated Rose. The incident had involved a dungbomb, lots of ketchup, Peeves, and had left Mark walking funny for a week afterwards. Rose had been particularly angry over that event, but I remembered Scorpius had found it extremely funny. Knowing nothing good could come from reminding Rose of Mark's misfortune, I braced myself for the anger to come.

"WHAT!" Rose exploded. "Why? W-what makes you think… You have no right… What!" Rose took a threatening step toward Scorpius which would have sent any other boy running, but Scorpius held his ground without hesitation.

"He took it well, if that helps," Scorpius commented as if he were bored.

"Took it well?" Rose's voice sounded rather shrill. "He left me at Slughorn's part with the excuse that he had to go fold his socks! FOLD HIS SOCKS! How is that taking it well?"

I was vaguely piecing together what had happened. Based on their formal attire, plus the fact that Rose had mentioned it in passing (great detective skills, right?), they had both been at Slug horn's annual Christmas party. By the sound of it, Scorpius had scared away Rose's date, Zach McMillan, making this the fourth time he had done so by my count. I had to give the boy credit, some of the ways he had done so were quite creative. My personal favorite was the one where he secretly cursed Cory Vane so that every time he kissed Rose he grew a wart on his face. Since this had happened in fourth year, and Cory was not particularly bright, he contributed this outcome to cooties and had never dated since. Rose had always attributed Malfoy's interference to his hatred of her and his love of tormenting her. I figured Scorpius thought the same thing of his actions, but I, and everyone else for that matter, know the real reason: he loves her and was jealous of the other guys. He didn't know it, and neither did Rose, but everyone else did and were waiting for them to get their act together and figure it out.

Normally, at this point in their argument, I would be rolling on the floor laughing, but this time two things stopped me: 1) they didn't know I was listening and laughing would alert them to my presence. I did not particularly want to incur the wrath of either, seeing as it took me six months to grow all my hair back from the last time Rose was mad at me. 2) I knew how excited Rose had been to go to the party with Zach, which would make said wrath twice as bad.

When Scorpius merely looked amused at Rose's anger, she screamed at him, "Couldn't you just have occupied yourself with _your_ date instead of mine? Don't even try to tell me you came alone like you tried last year. I know you brought Melanie Bones."

"I would have," he replied casually, "but she seemed to be having more fun getting it on with Smith in the corner."

"Were you jealous?" Rose asked with a smirk, seeming hopeful that he too had been hurt that night.

"Hardly," he said, and I believed him. Melanie Bones was amazingly dull, and he probably only asked her so he wouldn't go alone. As he spoke, Rose got this look in her eyes that I recognized immediately as her 'I'm-going-to-get-revenge-on-you-for-ruining-my-date-and-it's-going-to-be-good' look. Scorpius' eyes widened as he too realized the significance of that look; after all, he had seen it enough times.

"Really?" Rose questioned in a dangerously sweet and falsely concerned voice, stepping toward him slowly, causing him to step back. "You felt no jealousy as she walked toward him, leaving you all alone?"

Eyes still wide as she continued to advance, Malfoy shook his head, struggling to figure out what was happening. I could tell he was feeling uncomfortable by the way he was desperately looking for an escape, but he was already against the wall and had nowhere to go. He could have easily jinxed her and run away, but he was paralyzed with what he told himself was pure shock, but what I knew to be secret anticipation.

"You felt nothing as you watched he slide her hand up his arm?" Rose asked quietly, placing her own hand on Malfoy's arm and slowly moving it up to his shoulder. When Scorpius was incapable of answering, Rose smirked in triumph, mistaking the look on his face as one of revulsion and wrongly attributing his lack of movement to his pride.

I was sure Rose would stop there, but I misjudged the fervor of my cousin's "revenge". Rose took a step closer, there was barely any room between them now, moved her other hand to his hair, and whispered so I had to strain to hear, "It didn't bother you when she pulled him under the mistletoe?"

I had to give Scorpius credit again; he was great at hiding his emotions. Had he been any other boy he would have cracked by now, but Scorpius had arranged his features in a calm expression, with difficulty. Only by careful observation was I able to notice a light pink hue to his cheeks and the way he was trying, and failing, not to allow his eyes anywhere near the hem or neckline of Rose's rather short, black party dress.

He cleared his throat nervously, as if to make sure his voice wouldn't crack, and said, "Not at all."

Rose leaned even closer, their cheeks almost touching, and breathed into his ear, "I guess I was wrong then. You aren't jealous."

Scorpius closed his eyes in attempt to control himself, Rose taking his actions as a sign that she had thoroughly embarrassed him by forcing her "disgusting" presence on him. Smirking, Rose walked away with a faint flush on her neck, saying, "Happy Christmas Malfoy," and thinking she had emerged victorious from this encounter; but as I turned back and saw the look on a stunned Scorpius' face, I wasn't so sure Rose was right.


	6. Ron

**A/N: I do not own any of the characters.**

**Sorry it took so long to update. I had a lot of trouble with this one. Hopefully that doesn't reflect in the quality of the chapter. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Ron**

I hate ties. Why do they have to be so damn hard to tie? I can never get it right the first time. Or the second and third times if I'm being honest… which I am. I can't even do it with magic. If I ever wanted to get Harry's party on time, I was going to need help. I draped the tie around my neck, grabbed by sports jacket off the bed, threw it over my shoulder, and went down the stairs to find the rest of my family waiting for me. Not looking up from the book she was reading to pass the time while waiting, Hermione turned a page and asked, "Ready?"

"I, uh, need help," I said lamely, holding out my tie to her. Closing the book and shaking her head exasperatedly at me, she walked over to me and tied a complicated knot.

Smiling fondly at me, Hermione kissed my cheek and said, "What would you do without me? You're so clueless."

I smiled back at her and ushered her and my children toward the fireplace. As Hugo and Rose took their turns with the Floo Powder, I pondered my wife's comment. It was true that I would be lost without her, but clueless I am not. People seem to assume that I am, but I notice things just as much as the next person. The difference is that I try to ignore it if I don't like what I see. (Also, I've learned that if you act clueless, people tend to underestimate you, which sometimes comes in handy. Don't tell anyone I told you that. It's my secret. Well… I guess not anymore since I told you.) For example, I totally noticed the way that Malfoy boy was looking at my daughter when we arrived at the Potter's, but I pretended I didn't see the light flush on his otherwise pale face or the way he seemed to lose control of his jaw when he saw the dress she was wearing (it was Hermione's doing. If I had any say in what the girl wears, only her face would be exposed. If that much.). I figured if I ignored his reaction, it would go away, but I've never really had much luck with that in the past.

Now, I'm not as stupid as everyone seems to think. I know Scorpius (what kind of name is that? It makes Bilius look normal.) has a thing for Rose, and she might (and by might I mean "I hope to Merlin she doesn't") like him back. It's actually pretty obvious. Since having children, I've become a lot better at reading people and seeing relationships between them. If I were still like I was during school, I never would have noticed. That doesn't mean I have to like it. I sent him a glare for good measure as I walked past him. I was rewarded when he looked guilty and surprised at being caught. At least the boy had the decency to look embarrassed.

I walked over to the bar, greeting people along the way, making small talk with family and colleagues alike. Of course, I completely ignored the elder Malfoy and his wife, what's-her-name. I will never like that man. Based on the way he ignored the fact that I was ignoring him by ignoring me, I'd say we are in agreement, for once. Curse James for becoming that junior ferret's friend (I absolutely refuse to put the 'best' in front of that. Saying 'friend' makes me shudder enough as it is.) I don't think Harry would invite the Malfoys if James hadn't befriended that kid. Granted, the Potter's Christmas party was always a huge affair. I think Harry invites everyone he knows, as well as a few hundred he doesn't, so a mortal enemy from school may have eventually made it on the list.

I snagged a firewhiskey and made my way over to where George was telling Harry a story about how he and Fred once convinced Filch that Mrs. Norris was deathly ill with a made up disease called flippity gibber. I had heard this particular story multiple times, the details getting more extravagant each time, so I sat next to Harry and turned my attention back to the kids, watching them through the open doorway.

They were all clearly happy that school was out for a few weeks based on the way they were playing a rather energetic game of Exploding Snap. It was James and Malfoy verse Al and Rose while Hugo and Lily waited to play the winners. From the way James seemed to be getting more irritated and aggressive with each play, Al and Rose were winning by a lot. I don't think it was because either is particularly good at the game, nor were they lucky. I think that Malfoy was having trouble concentrating. Every time he looked up from his cards, he would find himself face-to-face with Rose and blush. It was kind of weird. Sure, I knew he liked her, but he usually had a better hold on his facial expressions. If the smirk on Lily's face as she noticed this too told me anything, it meant that something had happened between Malfoy and Rose. What? I dunno, but I didn't really want to know what it was.

As James and Malfoy lost another hand and the cards exploded, Rose and Al shared a celebratory high-five, and James smacked Malfoy on the back of the head. Hahaha. Serves him right.

James continued to berate Malfoy, who was rubbing the back of his head in irritation, as Lily and Hugo took their place to challenge the reigning champions. The game got pretty intense actually. Each of them had several minor burns before the game was half over, and Hugo lost a few inches of hair that he could not afford to lose. To even out the damage, he'll have practically no hair. Haha. My son's going bald before me! Ha!

The four of them were too intent on the game to notice that James was no longer scolding his friend for not paying attention to the game. In fact, James seemed to have forgotten about his loss. Malfoy had pulled something I could not see out of his pocket and was whispering something in James' ear. Nodding his head and grinning, James glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching them. I quickly pretended to be laughing at George's story. When I deemed it safe to look at them again, I saw James slip something onto a tray of cookies and hand it to Scorpius. Taking the tray, Scorpius made a beeline for Rose. Absorbed in the game, Rose did not look at what she was being offered, or who was offering it to her. That was her mistake.

Now, I know what you're thinking: how could you not warn Rose that James and Scorpius had somehow rigged the cookies? A good parent doesn't let their child walk into a booby trap! Well, I never claimed to be a good parent. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my kids, and I would do anything to keep them out of harm's way. In that regard, I think I'm a pretty awesome Dad; however, I also think that being pranked every once in a while is a healthy experience. Keeps you on your toes. So, yes, I let the situation unfold.

The moment she reached out to grab a cookie, whatever the boys had buried in the cookies exploded all over Rose, and only Rose. Some thick and odorous green slime coated her from head to ballerina slipper encased toes. The room froze. No one made a sound. It was like everyone was holding their breath. Finally, Rose raised a hand to wipe her face, spat a blob of gunk from her mouth, and turned with fury on the prankster closest to her, all thoughts of the game blasted from her mind.

The moment Rose moved, the rest of the room regained their motor abilities and scattered so fast it looked like they were on fast-forward (Hermione bought a DDV, or VDD, or DVD player, or whatever. I know what fast-forwarding is). The only three left in the room besides Rose and Scorpius were James, Albus, and Fred. James stayed out of curiosity and possible blackmail material; Albus stayed in case he needed to restrain Rose; and I believe Fred stayed because he is too much like his father and his namesake, thriving on any type of mayhem (that's why he hangs out with James, Scorpius, and Peeves so much.). The adults in hearing range took one look at the situation, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and turned back to their conversations like nothing happened.

Mouth set in a line that would have made McGonagall proud, Rose shook her arms to get some of the slime off her, slinging it on the floor. She glared at Scorpius, and I was surprised that lasers didn't shoot out of her eyes and turn him into a pile of ashes where he stood. In a dangerously soft voice, Rose said, "What is _wrong_ with you? What did I do to deserve this? Any other time, maybe, but it's the holidays. Can't you just let the holidays pass happily? Do you _have_ to ruin thing? Is that your _goal_ in life?"

Scorpius raised his hand in a peace making gesture and said calmly, "Relax, Rose. It was just a joke. It comes out-"

"RELAX?" she yelled, "I'm covered in slimy goo and you tell me to relax? The dress that I saved up for for _six months straight_ will probably never be the same again! How am I supposed to RELAX, you Death Eater scum?"

Oh, no.

She just went too far.

There was a collective gasp from James, Al, Fred, and possibly me (I was so shocked, I'm not really sure if I gasped. Kind of hard to remember.). Luckily no one else had heard because Hagrid had broken Ginny's favorite vase and was apologizing very loudly at that exact moment. Once again, no one moved for a minute.

Scorpius simply stared at her. His face was blank of emotion, body language betraying nothing. Rose's angry expression faltered and changed to one of uncertainty. They stood in silence for a minute, each still enough to be petrified. Then, slowly, Scorpius reached for the wand in his back pocket. Rose flinched, waiting for the hex she knew she deserved. It never came. Scorpius waved his wand, and the goo that covered Rose disappeared, leaving no trace it had ever existed. Placing his wand back in his pocket and giving Rose one last, long expressionless look, he silently turned and walked calmly out of the room.

James and Fred followed him out just as silently. Surprisingly, Fred even had the decency to not crack a joke. The moment they were out of the room, Rose collapsed into a kneeling position, face buried in her hands. Uncertain what to do, Albus tentatively reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but seemed to change his mind at the last second. Arms falling uselessly at his side, he looked up and me my eyes with his own emerald stare. His glance clearly asked the question: what do I do? Tilting my head toward the door, I silently told him I would handle it. Nodding in understanding, he wasted no time making himself scarce.

I walked over to my daughter, whose head was still in her hands, thinking of a plan as I went. See, as much as I hate the Malfoy kid, he's actually pretty cool. Once you get to know him (which I did not do on purpose. It just happened.), he's a way nicer kid than his father ever was. He's not a stuck up little brat, and the thought of him doing dark magic is laughable. Not because he's incapable, but because he just wouldn't. If I didn't hate the boy so much, I would probably want to be his friend. Truthfully, I only really hate him because he's the kind of guy I wanted to be in school but never was. You know the type: cool, handsome, smart, Quidditch hero, and snarky enough to be funny without being obnoxious. Knowing him, the guy was probably a gentleman to boot. Pretty much Mr. Perfect. Damn him.

There was no way he deserved to be called a Death Eater. I wouldn't even call dear Draco that anymore. He's cleaned up his act, mainly for his son's benefit, so I hear. So… what do I do? A plan started forming in my head.

I sat on the ground next to Rose, clearing my throat to announce my presence. She didn't acknowledge me. I didn't really expect her to. Taking a swig of my firewhiskey in hope that it would bestow upon me the right words to say, I said, "So… Having a good time?" Obviously, it didn't.

Rose looked at me incredulously through her fingers, "Yeah, Dad. I'm having a blast," dropping the sarcasm, she continued, "If you came to yell at me and make me go apologize, forget it. I'm not going to."

I snorted, "Why would I make you apologize? You didn't do anything wrong."

Rose, taken aback at my casual tone, looked at me fully this time, puzzled, "But I called him a Death Eater."

"Yeah, and?" I shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"And you told me never to call someone a Death Eater," she said slowly.

"Well," I took another drink, "in this case, I don't see the problem. You _shouldn't_ go apologize to that Malfoy brat. He deserved it, that Death Eater spawn." And that's when I had her.

I guess hearing someone else insult Malfoy Jr. was just what she needed to push her into action. Scrambling to her feet, Rose looked down at me and said with confidence, "He didn't deserve it. Sure, he's cocky and annoys the hell out of me most of the time, but that doesn't give me the right, or you for that matter, to call him a Death Eater. Scorpius would never even _consider_ following Voldemort. I'm ashamed of myself for implying that he would. I'm going to apologize, grovel if I have to, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." With that, she turned on her heel, the hem of her dress slapping me in the face as I did so, and went off to find him.

I watched her go with a mixture of pride and sadness. My plan had worked perfectly. I knew she would do exactly the opposite of what I told her to do. Daughers are sometimes like that. She was feeling guilty enough without my help, but me having the nerve to tell her that he deserved it was what made her take action. Although I had triumphed, I had to act like such a heartless jerk to do so. No one wants their daughter thinking they're a jerk. I'd apologize to her later. Yeah. But now, I had to go see the fruit of my labors.

From a distance where she wouldn't be able to tell I was following her, I did exactly that. She headed toward the staircase, knowing that Malfoy would probably go hideout in James' room. I waited casually at the bottom of the stairs as she stood outside the door working up the nerve to face him. You could practically see her thoughts on her face: she took a deep breath and raised her fist to knock; seemed to think better of it; buried her face in her hands and turned to run back down the stairs and chicken out; saw me at the bottom of the stairs; recalled that I had told her that Malfoy did not deserve an apology; squared her shoulders defiantly; scowled at me; and barged into James' room without knocking. That's my girl.

The moment the door was closed, I took the steps three at a time and unceremoniously, but quietly, burst into Albus' room, which is connected to James' by a bathroom. My plan was to hide around the corner of the bathroom; where they could not see me, but I could hear them; and eavesdrop on their conversation, but I found my spot already occupied. Albus had obviously had the same idea, the little creep (Before you go yelling at me for doing the same thing, I must tell you: I am a father. Fathers are allowed to be creepy. Cousins have no right.)

Gesturing angrily at him, I motioned for him to leave and stop spying on them.

He gave me a look that said, _'Right back at ya, man. Besides, this is my room. _You_ get out.'_

I glared back, _'You leave, or I'll tell Rose you were spying on her.'_

'_Really, Uncle Ron? I could say the same thing.'_

'_I'll tell your father!'_

'_He'd congratulate me!'_

'_Fine! We'll both stay, and neither will tell on the other. Agreed?'_

'_Agreed.'_

We shook hands, and I sat next to him and strained to hear what was going on in the other room. Truthfully, I don't think I missed anything. I heard no talking. Al and I sat there trying to figure out what was happening, and failing. Eavesdropping on a conversation is very hard if those you are listening in on don't say anything. Tired of trying to guess what was going on, I conjured a hand mirror and angled it so we could see around the corner. Al looked over my shoulder as the scene came into view.

Malfoy was lying on his back on James' bed, knees bent, and staring emotionlessly at the ceiling with his arms behind his head. Rose seemed to have lost all the defiant courage that had propelled her into the room. She was as far away from him as she could be and still be in the room. She stood awkwardly with her back against the door and her hands folded in front of her, obviously considering whether to bolt out of the room just as suddenly as she had entered it. I think she was leaning toward leaving when Malfoy made the decision for her. "Did you want something, Weasely?" he asked in a dead voice, still not looking at her.

She took another deep breath and a tentative step away from the door. At loss for how to begin, she asked, "So… Having a good time?" If there was ever any doubt that Rose is my daughter, her lack of tact just confirmed her paternity.

Malfoy didn't respond, and I didn't really blame him. Neither did Rose it seemed, because grimaced and shook her head at her stupidity. Personally, I think she barely restrained herself from smacking her palm to her forehead. Mentally shaking off her last pathetic attempt, she tried again: "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" he said, again in that dead voice.

She looked down at the floor and mumbled, "For calling you a… you know…"

Finally looking at her, he sat up and said coldly, "What? Can't bring yourself to say it? You had no trouble before."

Trying to smile, and only managing a slightly pained looking grimace, she said, "At least I didn't call you a ferret," but it came out like more of a question. I didn't understand her comment, and by the look on Al's face, he didn't either. I assumed it was a kind of personal joke between them, but he wasn't laughing.

Seeing her attempt at humor didn't work, she changed tactics and went with one that worked on almost everyone: pleading. "Please, Scorpius," she begged, all but getting on her knees, "I didn't mean to call you that. I just overreacted. I let the heat of the game spill over into my anger. I'm _so, so_ sorry. Please forgive me?"

I don't know how he resisted her pleading eyes that were filled to the danger point with unshed tears, but he did. "I understand why you were upset about your dress, but I've never pulled a prank on you that leaves lasting physical damage to yourself or any of your belongings. Why would I start now? I know we don't get along, but I never thought _you_ would call me a Death Eater, Rose. Not _you._"

She took in his quietly spoken words and clenched her jaw determinately. She crossed the room in a few long strides and stood right in front of him. Staring straight into his eyes she said slowly and clearly, "Listen, Scorpius. I know that calling you a Death Eater in an unforgettable offense. I was wrong, and you know that is something I do not admit very often. Not only was it wrong of me to call you that, but I could not have picked a less appropriate insult. You have none of the qualities of a Death Eater. You're brave, loyal, and you fight for what's right; all of which are qualities that have earned you the love of people like the Potters. They don't hang with Death Eaters." She paused her for a moment to take a breath and reorganize her thoughts. I took a moment to study the boy's expression. Though still solemn, there was no doubt that he heard the sincerity in her voice. She continued, "I know I deserve to be cast out by all decent people for even implying that you would follow Voldemort, and I probably deserve whatever prank you and James think up to get me back for this, too. (He almost smiled at that.) Like I said before, my offense is unforgettable; and I wouldn't ask you to forget it; but is there any way you could forgive me?"

He studied her, and seemed to decide this was some kind of joke. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he asked, "You're just apologizing so James doesn't yell at you later, aren't you?"

"This has NOTHING to do with James!" she yelled. She looked away from him and took a deep breath to calm herself. Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise at her outburst. She brought her hands to her face in frustration that he did not understand what she was saying.

"Look," she said slowly, still not looking at him, "We don't get along. I understand that, but as much as you frustrate me… I would… I would feel…lost… if we didn't interact because I messed up. Like something… important… were missing." She finally looked at him, and there was once again no denying her truthfulness. Despite all my warnings and outward displeasure with him, Rose had come to tolerate, if not care for (I think that's a bit of an understatement actually), the boy.

They stared at each other in silence. "I forgive you," he said at long last. "But I won't forget, and I will be mad at you for as long as I want."

"That's more than fair," Rose responded, relief evident in her voice.

Hoping off the bed, he added, "And I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the night."

She nodded in agreement. They started walking toward the door and he said with a hint of humor (I guess you couldn't keep his spirits down for long. Darn. That will make it harder for me to crush his spirit when he and Rose state actually dating.), "So what do you suggest for a payback prank? A Bad Breath Potion in your tea?"

"No," she replied, "Not bad enough. I think a jar of ink slipped into my shampoo and soap would be sufficient. My skin and hair would be a weird purply black for at least a week, if not two."

I heard Malfoy laugh in appreciation before they were out of earshot.

I sighed and looked at Albus mournfully, "She was way too happy for my liking when he forgave her. I was hoping he wouldn't forgive her. What is this world coming to when you can't even count on a Slytherin to hold a grudge? And why did he keep talking to her? He said he'd ignore her for the rest of the night! I was counting on that! I hate that boy."

I pouted, but Al just gave me a look, saying, "Cut it out Uncle Ron. You do not hate him. You may have everyone else fooled, but I know the truth." He thought about it for a second and laughed, "You know. I bet you somehow tricked her into coming up here to apologize to him, without her realizing you wanted her to, too." He stood up and walked away to rejoin the party, calling over his shoulder on his way, "That's crafty. I'm impressed."

That kid is too smart for his own good…

But it is time someone acknowledged my skills.

**A/N: So that was it. I can't exactly decide how I feel about it. I think it's a little too long for my liking, but I couldn't find anything I wanted to take out. Anyway, the next chapter hopefully won't take as long to post, but it will take awhile.**


	7. Draco

**A/N: I would like to start with an apology for the delay. I really struggled with this one. I couldn't decide how I wanted it to go. Draco was a hard character for me to grasp. I think he's changed since the war, but I'd like to think he's still a little mischievous. Hopefully I've done a good job with that. Please let me know what you think.**

**Also, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate it. Special thanks to **bickering-sidekicks** and **GhibliGirl91** who have reviewed almost every chapter. Until recently, I didn't realize I could respond to reviews, so I will now respond to every review I'm given. Sorry for not figuring that out before.**

**Since this one took so long to update, I PROMISE that the last part will be up in no later than a week. Really. Maybe even before then.**

**Sorry for the long note. Now on to the story.**

**I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.**

**Draco**

Visiting Hogwarts is not exactly one of my favorite things to do. In fact, most of the time, I absolutely hate it. Whenever business demands that I stop at the school, I avoid it at any cost. I'll make up some outrageous story about my wife's mother being dangerously ill and she needs me to clean out her attic; or avoid making eye contact with the boss who's picking the delegation to Hogwarts, hoping he'll pass right over me because I'm not looking at him; or I'll play sick (it's worked for me before). Anything to keep me away from that school.

I am aware that I am a grown man and should not resort to such juvenile tactics to avoid unpleasant things. I should know by now that I sometimes have to do things I don't like, and I should just suck it up, but I really don't care if I'm being ridiculous.

You may ask why I go to such lengths to not return to Hogwarts. Well, it's because every terrible, embarrassing, and worst-moment-of-my-life type scenario has happened at that school. I'm not just being dramatic. Sure, every kid thinks that school is horribly embarrassing, and they do something that they think is the worst moment of their life, like trip up the stairs in front of their crush or something, but they are wrong. I _really _experienced terrible and embarrassing things. More so than anybody I think. When Potter caught me crying in the bathroom , then proceeded to accidentally almost kill me, for example; or when I nearly died in the Room of Requirement; or my ENTIRE 6th year.

I don't like to be reminded of that period of my life. I'm embarrassed of the type of kid I was: scared and insecure, all hidden behind a pompous and jealous façade. I've moved on and don't want to remember how people remember me.

Despite my understandable hatred for Hogwarts and everything I just told you, there is one event that brings me back every single year: the Quidditch Cup.

Once I get in the stands of that pitch, I forget all the other terrible things that happened during school and just focus on the excitement of the game. This year it was particularly exciting because it was the Gryffindor/Syltherin game. I always relish a chance to see the Gryffindor team thoroughly thrashed. Granted, it doesn't happen very often because the Gryffindor team is always superb.

It's annoying.

An added bonus this year is that my son's on the Slytherin team. Chaser. And a darn good one at that. He has twice the talent I ever had (And I did have talent, okay? My father didn't buy my way on the team. I really was the best choice for the spot… the broom gift was just a coincidence, alright. This is still a sore topic for me.).

"And Slytherin chaser Malfoy executes a perfect fake and behind the back shot, bringing his team 50 points ahead!" yelled Luke Jordan into the commentator's microphone, "That's his sixth goal this game!" I told you Scorpius had talent.

Only pausing to smirk tauntingly at his best friend and opposing chaser James Potter, Scorpius immediately fell into defensive mode and began marking Rose Weasley rather closely.

"Weasley with the Quaffle, she passes off to Potter, he takes it up the pitch and- is hit by a bludger from Slytherin McLaggen. Zabini heads toward the goal passes to- intercepted by Weasley, dodges a bludger with an _impressive_ Sloth-Grip Roll. She shoots! She scores! Bringing the score to 90 to 50 Slytherin.

"Zabini with the Quaffle, throws to Malfoy, Malfoy back to Zabini, fumbles 'cause of a nice bludger from the other Potter, recovered by Weasley who streaks up the field. Dodges beater Goyle and- wait! Is that the snitch?"

The whole crowd turned to watch as Flint and Potter (seriously, do all the Potter kids have to be good at Quidditch? Can't one of them be a failure at something?) dove toward the ground, but I continued to watch Weasley. I would never tell her father this, but that girl can fly. The way she could dodge everything that came her way with such grace was incredible to watch. She was about to take the shot, when Scorpius came out of nowhere and rammed into her broom. Locking her broom handle with his, he pushed her to the side, throwing off her aim. Slytherin Keeper Bletchly caught it with ease.

The third Gryffindor chaser, Thomas, screamed, "Blurting! Madame Bell, Malfoy just Blurted Rose! Didn't you see that!"

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Quidditch fouls, Blurting is "locking broom handles with a view to steering opponent off course" (Quidditch Through the Ages 29).

Katie Bell, the referee, had been watching the seekers make their dive and had missed Scorpius' infraction, so the boy got away with it. Good for him, I say. There's a reason he's a Slytherin.

The Gryffindor team, however, did not see it my way. They were furious. That did not bode well for them. Gryffindors get sloppy when they're angry and make mistakes. So before they knew it, "Flint catches the snitch! Slytherin wins 240 to 50 in an upset that no one saw coming! I mean, who would have thought that the stacked Gryffindor team, under the superb leadership of James Potter, could ever lose to a team that is composed of players so stupid that they can't even-" McGonagall turned off the mic before Jordan could finish.

I took my time leaving the stands, giving the students a chance to make their way back to the school. I let the crowd clear and scanned the area for my son. Over by the Slytherin goal posts I spotted three figures: one clad in red, a similar one in green, and one I had been hoping to avoid. Holding in a resigned sigh, I made my way over, hoping Potter (Senior) would leave before I got there. I don't hate him anymore, it's just that his face reminds me of things I would rather forget.

By the time I was within earshot to hear Potter congratulate Scorpius on a game well played, I could tell the boys had seen me. Being the brats (and I say that with love of course) they are, however, they hadn't warned Potter, whose back was to me. Needless to say, our greeting was less than that of long lost brothers.

"Malfoy," Potter greeted, somewhat surprised by my sudden appearance.

"Potter," I replied, ignoring the snickers of the boys next to me. Sure, laugh it up while you can. I'll get the last laugh when _your _kids end up being best friends with those of McLaggen, who I know you both despise.

I was about to try to start a civil conversation by complimenting his children's performances, but I was saved by his wife calling him over.

"Well done boys. Goodbye," he turned to me, "Malfoy."

"Potter." Saved by the former Weasel girl. Good. Now I didn't have to falsely compliment his kids. The only one I really like is James. Albus is too much of a goody-goody like his father (practically another St. Potter), plus he always seems to know what I'm thinking, it's creepy (and his name is horrible. People have given me flack for giving Scorpius a unique name, but Potter deserves it more than I do). Lily, I guess I don't dislike her, she just doesn't strike me as a particularly interesting person. Unlike the other redhead that was rapidly approaching.

"James! I HATE your best friend!" a yell echoed from halfway across the pitch. The three of us, even the ones not named James, turned to see what the ruckus was about. Approaching quickly and leaving a crowd of terrified people behind her, Rose Weasley stormed toward us, alternating glaring between my son and her cousin.

James turned away from his angry cousin with a sigh and mumbled under his breath so only I could hear, "Lies."

Holding back a snort of laughter (that would not be dignified), I looked at my son and observed him take in the sight before him. The expression and smirk on his face clearly said, "We beat you! We beat you! Na na na na na na!" The gleam in his eyes, however, clearly spoke to his appreciation of her flushed face and windswept hair, even as she came to tell his off for his, um, less than legal move during the game.

It was almost as though he was anticipating the inevitable shouting match. I guess I really couldn't blame him. Her parents were always some of my favorite people to annoy to the point of argument when I was in school. I know most of my altercations had been with Potter; and I always enjoyed watching the internal struggle between doing what was right and hexing me until I was unrecognizable that was evident in Potter's eyes; but quarreling with his sidekicks was more fun. Weasley was always great because he would get worked up so fast. It was like instant gratification. Plus, he would turn so red he would put his own hair to shame. Granger, on the other hand, was harder to get riled; she preferred the 'Ignore Them and They Will Go Away Approach'; but once she did, the comebacks were quicker and cleverer than either Weasely or Potter could have ever come up with. There was one time I really got her mad, and things got physical. Despite the bruised nose and ego I sported for two weeks after the incident, that was probably my favorite argument. My son, it seemed, had been born with my joy and talent for getting under people's skin (regardless of my wife's valiant efforts to prevent it), especially the Weasley girl's.

Rose, it turns out, inherited the best of both worlds: easy to anger and quick with retorts. Irresistible for a Malfoy. He has it _bad _for the girl… he just doesn't know it yet.

Stopping two feet away from Scorpius, Rose spread her feet shoulder-length apart and crossed her arms defiantly. Jaw clenched, the effort of holding in her frustrations seemed to be making her right eye twitch slightly. It was very amusing.

Taking the situation into his own hands, James broke the silence, "So, Rose, what was it you yelled across the pitch, very rudely interrupting our conversation with Mr. Malfoy I might add? We couldn't quite make out the words you bellowed."

For the first time, Rose seemed to register my presence. Turning toward me, all her anger left her countenance, and she looked pleasantly surprised. "Mr. Malfoy," she said at a normal volume, "How nice to see you again. I would offer you my hand, but I'd be afraid of getting you all sweaty."

I had met the young Miss Weasley on several occasions, mainly at Potter's annual Christmas party. Through these few interactions we had formed a cordial relationship. She respected me for my ability to get on her father's nerves without saying a single word, and I respected her because she had no qualms with putting my son in his place. Every young man needs someone his own age to call him out. It's healthy.

Needless to say, I approve of her.

Laughing, I shook her hand anyway, "Think nothing of it Miss Weasley. A little sweat will not kill me. Excellently played game by the way."

She smiled ruefully, "Not good enough apparently, or we would not have lost." Her expression changed to a worried one, "I'm sorry I interrupted your conversation. I can come back later…"

Waving her apology aside, I assured her it was alright: "I was simply about to tell off the boys for playing a rather unamusing joke on their fathers, but I have a feeling that you have some scolding of your own to do. By all means, continue."

At my reminder of Scropius' transgressions, she muttered a polite, "Thank you," to me and resumed squinting angrily at my son like there had been no interruption. He, however, was glaring at me for my traitorous actions. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had mimed getting stabbed in the heart and said, "Your own son?" His attention was diverted from me when Rose addressed her cousin, though still looking at Scorpius.

"I said that I HATE your best friends, James. How you can still associate with him after his ghastly cheating against our team is beyond me." Beside her, James rolled his eyes at her attempt to ignore Scorpius and reprimand him at the same time.

"It wasn't cheating because Madame Bell didn't see it!" Scorpius retorted.

Forgetting she was ignoring him, Rose wasted no time letting her voice be heard, "BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T SEE IT? _BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T SEE IT?_" Her face was now as red as the Quaffle she was so apt at throwing through the hoops. "THAT IS THS _SLIMYEST_ THING YOU HAVE EVER SAID SCORPIUS MALFOY! ONLY A _LOWLY, COWARDLY _SLYTHERIN WOULD USE SUCH TACTICS! I THOUGHT THAT SINCE YOU SPEND SO MUCH TIME IN THE COMPANY OF GRYFFINDORS SOME OF THEIR UPSTANDING BEHAVIOR WOULD RUB OFF ON YOU! I'M SURE YOU FATHER HAS RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT!"

I had actually done no such thing, I wasn't going to change her impression of me though. Hopefully, Scorpius would not blow my cover. I could tell James wanted to, but luckily Scorpius chose that moment to defend himself. I think the "cowardly" comment got him… or it was the "slimy" comment. He's never like slimy things. When he was little, worms freaked him out. I think they still do. I don't know what he does when he has to use them in potions. Probably cons his partner into putting them in the cauldron. That's my boy. Anyway, I digress.

"YOU'RE JUST MAD BECAUSE I GOT AWAY WITH IT. EVEN _ROSE WEASLEY_, GRYFFINDOR _ANGEL_/POSTER CHILD FOR FOLLOWING THE RULES, WOULDN'T COMPLAIN IF HER TEAM HAD GOTTEN AWAY WITH THE SAME MOVE!" Scorpius shot back smugly. James nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders as if to say "Yeah, probably".

"_MY_ TEAM WOULDN'T HAVE TO CHEAT BECAUSE ALL _DECENT_ PLAYERS DON'T _NEED _TO RESORT TO BANNED STRATEGIES!" she yelled at a decibel that was sure to leave her with a sore throat in the morning.

When someone implies that Scorpius is a less than stellar Quidditch player, he loses all sense of reason. He'll basically say anything that comes to his mind. In this case it was the following: "I _HAD_ TO USE THAT MOVE! IT WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET PAST GRYFFINDOR'S BEST CHASER!" See what I mean? I think he accidentally complimented the girl while in the middle of a fight. Not exactly the best way to win said argument.

James turned to me indignantly, "Hey! _I'm_ Gryffindor's best chaser!"

Not taking my eyes off the argument, I replied, "No you aren't."

James crossed his arms and, for lack of a better word, pouted.

"YOU _REALLY_ THINK I'M THE BEST CHASER?" Rose shouted, slightly taken aback.

Seeing no way out of the complimentary hole he had dug himself, my son decided that he might as well put it all out there. "YES! IT'S FRUSTRATING PLAYING AGAINST YOU! I CAN NEVER GET AROUND YOU!" As much as I admire his ability to express his feelings, shouting them at her was less than dignified. He still needs some help from his father in the wooing department. This, however, did not affect his success this time.

"THANK YOU!" she yelled back, seeming rather flattered, "YOU'RE QUITE TALENTED YOURSELF! I WAS PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED WITH THE WOOLLONGONG SHIMMY **(A/N: Quidditch Through the Ages pg 55)** YOU USED IN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF THE GAME! I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO EXECUTE IT PROPERLY!"

"THANKS! I COULD TEACH YOU SOMETIME IF YOU'D LIKE!" Why they were still yelling was beyond me. I would say that it's a new fad with kids today, but James looked just as confused as I was. Plus, I keep up with the current fads. I glanced over at Albus Potter who didn't look confused at all. I told you that kid was weird.

"I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT VERY MUCH! CONGRATULATIONS ON THE WIN, BY THE WAY! IT REFLECTS WELL ON YOUR CAPTAINSHIP!" Though speaking in a voice so loud that I was sure I would be deaf by the end of the conversation, Miss Weasley's face had returned to its usual hue.

"THANK YOU! IT WAS A TOUGH ONE! WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO THE VICTORY PARTY WITH ME… AND JAMES!" he added quickly.

"I WOULD LOVE TO!" she yelled at him, most of the anger gone from her voice.

"ALRIGHT THEN, LET'S GO!" he shouted, more excited than angry. Turning to me, he said at a normal volume and with a grin, "Thanks for coming Dad. Lunch tomorrow at the Three Broomsticks?"

I nodded, "Of course son. Have fun at your party. Congratulations."

Also speaking normally, Rose said, "It was nice to see you again Mr. Malfoy."

"It's been a pleasure as always Miss Weasley."

With one last nod to me, the two of them turned around, following what was left of the crowd back to the castle. They resumed their shouted conversation on the way.

"I HOPE THERE'S STILL LOTS OF BUTTERBEER LEFT BY THE TIME WE GET THERE!"

"ME TOO! HEY! LET'S SNEAK IN SOME OF THAT BOIL CAUSING POTION WE MADE IN CLASS THE OTHER DAY!"

"YEAH! WE'LL GIVE IT TO MCLAGGEN! TELL HIM IT WILL CURE HIS BACK PIMPLES!"

As their voices and laughter gradually died away, I noticed James lingered. Shaking his head and sighing dramatically, he said mournfully, "How could Rose do this to us? Bringing a Slytherin into the family… what a disgrace to the family name…" He smirked at me.

"You, Mr. Potter," I replied, not taking my eyes off the retreating pair, "are your father's son."

James looked horrified, "Mr. Malfoy! Don't insult me!"

I glanced his direction, raising an eyebrow, "Most people would take that as a compliment, especially considering who your father is."

"I know," he said, giving me a knowing look, "but you didn't mean it as one."

Grinning cheekily at me, he ran after his friends. I watched them walk away toward the castle, still in their Quidditch robes, and was struck by the irony of what I was seeing. Green and scarlet; a Gryffindor and a Slytherin; a Malfoy and a Weasley. Weirdly, I kind of liked the sight. Maybe Hogwarts isn't such a bad place. I smiled.

Don't tell anyone. We Malfoys have a reputation of aloofness to uphold.

**A/N: If you review, I will respond.**


	8. James

**A/N: Last chapter everyone! Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I really appreciate all nice things you have all said about the story. I'm glad you all liked it, and I hope the last chapter lives up to your expectations. Let me know what you think. :)**

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

**James**

I am pretty much the coolest person who has ever lived, except maybe Albus Dumbledore because of all that crazy shit he did that my Dad is always telling us about. But it's a close competition. My sister Lily calls me a cocky bastard, but I prefer to think that I am simply embracing my awesomeness. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that my cousin Rose and my best friend Scorpius would agree with my diagnosis of my coolness. I am the reason for their happiness after all. More like I basically pointed out the obvious that they were too dense to see. And they say Rose is the smart one in the family.

Scorp and I had been casually walking down the hall (more like trying to make it look causal because we had just dyed Alicia Corner's hair pink as she walked by and were trying to avoid the suspicion of an angry McGonagall. We didn't really want to spend the rest of the week cleaning out cauldrons with questionable substances crusted to the bottom.), when we came across Rose and Albus in the middle of an argument with Ian McLaggen and William Zabini. From the debris littered at their feet, it seemed like McLaggen and Zabini had been unfortunate enough to bump into Rose as she carried a huge stack of parchment. I knew from firsthand experience how angry Rose could get when her perfectly stacked and organized papers were no longer in such pristine order, even if it had been an accident. Given the angry looks on all of their faces, McLaggen and Zabini had gotten defensive and the exchange had turned ugly. One would think that Al would be exempt from participating in this particular argument since he had done nothing, but Al would do just about any stupid thing when it came to his favorite cousin. I personally think it is unfair that he has a favorite cousin. If he has to have a favorite, it should be me. I know I'm not his cousin, but I should still be his favorite.

Scorpius groaned at the sight of this altercation, and I took the opportunity to make a snide comment, "What's wrong Scorp? You afraid Rose will forget about you since she's arguing with someone else? Don't want McLaggen or Zabini to take your place as 'Most Irritating Person in Rose Weasley's Life'? Wouldn't know what to do with yourself if dethroned, would you?" I tried, whenever possible, to hint, not so subtly, that Scorpius had a thing for Rose. Judging by the light flush on his cheeks, he understood and was denying it with all his willpower.

"No," he said back, letting me know in no uncertain terms that he did not appreciate the comment by smacking the back of my head. "McLaggen and Zabini are my roommates. Do you think I want them all worked up and angry? They keep me up all night complaining when they are."

"You mean like you do to _me_ when_ you're_ angry at Rose?" I shot back, rubbing my head where he had hit me. I know practically every detail of their relationship, learning in the process things I would never want to know about anyone let alone my cousin and best friend. Scorp has complained to me about every encounter he has ever had with Rose, except one that happened after Slughorn's Christmas party that he refused to tell me about even after vicious badgering. Apparently Lily had witnessed the whole thing without either of them noticing, and she had no qualms sharing it with me. Being the awesome friend I am, I wasted no time completely rubbing it in his face. Heh.

Ignoring me, he walked toward their fight in an attempt to break it up. I followed slightly behind. I was positive this wasn't going to go well, and I wanted to be there to witness the destruction, but I also wanted to ensure that I would not be in the direct line of fire.

"Whatcha doing?" Scorpius asked, apparently going for the teasing approach. By the way Rose, Al, McLaggen, and Zabini all turned furiously in his direction, I had a feeling it did not work. Rose in particular seemed to become even more irritated.

"Go away Malfoy. This doesn't concern you, just your idiotic friends," she growled at him, turning back to his friends with a glare.

"Who are you calling idiotic? At least I'm not an insufferable know-it-all," Zabini replied angrily.

"Oh. How creative. I haven't heard that one before," Rose said, sarcasm dripping off every word. "You're sure to win awards for wit if you keep that up."

No one really likes it when others are sarcastic with them (something I learned third year when I tried to only speak with sarcasm. It only lasted a few days because my cousin Fred got sick of my antics and glued me to the dungeon ceiling. No one found me until the next morning's potions class.), so I couldn't really blame McLaggen and Zabini for getting rather worked up about it. They did not, however, have to call my cousin what they did. I would tell you what they said, but even I have a sense of propriety. Surprising, I know.

Al grabbed Rose to restrain her while Scorp stepped between the Slytherins and Gryffindors, telling his friends sternly, "Hey, that's too far. A little spirited argument is fine, but that's enough."

They narrowed their eyes at Scorp before practically spitting the words in his face, "We should have known you would take your _girlfriend's_ side."

I know that Scorp secretly loves Rose. I guess it's not really a secret if the whole world knows except the two of them, and maybe Uncle Ron, but he's most likely in denial. Even Professor Binns has noticed something going on between them, and he's really lost. I mean he didn't even notice anything that time when half the class had taken Polyjuice Potion to look like my Dad. How do you not notice half a classroom full of Harry Potters? But Rose and Scorp seem even more out of it than Binns. Lately, however, I think Scorp has begun to realize his feelings, but has been denying them. After Rose's stunt at Christmas it's been harder for him to write off. It's given me way too much ammo. Since when does Rose have such a great sense of humor? It sounds like something I would do. Not to Scorp though, that would just be weird. Actually… that would be hilarious. I'll save that one for later. Anyway, based on the way Scorp turned a bright shade of pink, I'm pretty sure their comment came too close to the mark for comfort. Heh. Sucker.

McLaggen and Zabini took advantage of Scorp's lack of focus to get out of there as quickly as possible. Huh, seems like even the stupidest of the Slytherins had their smart moments. Who knew?

Scorpius blushed even more as Rose spun to face him, glaring at him so intensely that I think she was trying to telepathically make his head explode. "What is _wrong _with you?" she demanded, stomping her foot. "I was having a perfectly civil argument with them, and you just had to interrupt, and now they've escaped!" She made a movement to run after them screaming, but Al pulled her back, not wanting to have to do damage control.

Normally Rose wouldn't be this mad if someone had knocked down her papers. She would yell at them, of course, but would stop short of actually chasing them down the hall once they tried to escape. Something else must have happened to rile her up. Being the concerned and caring cousin; or as my cousin Victoire would say, a nosy git; I politely asked, "Geez, Rose. What's got your knickers in a knot and your wand in a twist?"

Scorp, being the awesome best mate that he is, chuckled, then said in a very serious tone, but his eyes not quite managing to be as solemn, "James, if you're going to use common sayings you might as well try to get them right. It's 'What's got your knickers in a twist and your wand up your arse.'"

Al, acting completely out of character and non-stick-in-the-mud-ish, nearly choked from laughing and added, "No. I thought it was 'Who put a sock in your mouth.'" Granted, his comment was not as funny as Scorp's, but I was proud of my little brother. He was finally catching on.

I was about to retort with something along the lines of, "Dude, that doesn't even mean the same thing. It's clearly supposed to be, 'Why did you poke the sleeping dragon?'" but Rose had been getting progressively angrier with the situation and cut me off before I could share this comedic gem with the world.

"You wanna know what's wrong?" Rose practically shrieked at us.

"That's why we asked you why your broom is flying sideways," Al said. I snickered and gave him a high five, but the glare Rose shot our direction shut both of us up.

Pretending we had not interrupted her, Rose turned back to Scorpius with a murderous look. "Mary Bulstrode felt it her job to point out to the entire class that there must be something wrong with me because I haven't had a boyfriend since fourth year. Since this is true, I couldn't even come up with a proper comeback. I had to say something about her less than competent cognition skills. I know. Lame. This is _all your fault,_" she emphasized her point by poking Scorp in the chest as she said _all your fault_.

"_My_ fault? _Mine_? So it has nothing to do with your face or complete lack of social ability?"

"Yes _your_ fault," she responded, ignoring his jibe. "You're the one who's made it his business to scare off anyone who even considers going out with me. Do you really hate me so much that you won't let me be even slightly happy? Or maybe you're just frustrated that no girl will ever love you, so you're doing all you can to ruin love for everyone else too."

Although I love watching their fights, I saw that this one had the potential to last, and I was kinda impatient to eat dinner, so I tried to divert their attention from each other by loudly saying, "Well, this was fun. Let's go eat and continue this later."

For my efforts, they both yelled at me, "Shut up James!" Ungrateful buggers.

"No girl will ever love me? Really? Did you forget to tell your roommates, because I'm pretty sure they were the ones that started the 'I Love Scorpius Malfoy and Want to Have His Children Fan Club'," Scorp retorted, taking a bit of liberty with the club name. He had added the 'Want to Have His Children' part, but knowing the girls in question, it was probably a part of their club charter or something.

"Seriously guys. I'm hungry. Lez go," I tried again.

"Shut up James!" they yelled, without having the decency to look at me. It's only polite to yell at someone to their face.

Rose, who loved her roommates but despised their silly club, narrowed her eyes and practically spat at him, "Yeah? Well did I tell about the club I'm starting? It's called 'No One Loves Scorpius Malfoy, So He Should Go Crawl in a Hole, Saving the Rest of Us From His Arrogant, Prat-like Ways'. Wanna join?"

"That's a mouthful," I interjected as I attempted to corral them toward the Great Hall with Al's help.

"Shut _up_ James!" I hear that way too often. No one appreciates my hard work.

"What? You want me to join so that you can have two members, because I'm pretty sure you're the only one who'd be in a club that lame. Well, maybe you and your mother. Wasn't she the one who started spew? That was the least popular club in Hogwarts history. Guess it runs in the family."

"Hey. I'm a member of spew. Well, Uncle Ron promised me free Skiving Snackboxes until I graduate if I told Aunt Hermione I wanted to join. It was totally worth the hours I spent listening to her go on about how proud she was that I'm so concerned about elves," I said.

"Why didn't you use a Snackbox to get out of her rant?" Al asked curiously.

"Al, use your brain. Aunt Hermione would have known something was up. She knows all about the Snackboxes. She would have confiscated everything Uncle Ron gave me. I couldn't risk that," I said as though it were obvious, which it should have been.

"SHUT UP JAMES!" Scorpius and Rose screamed in unison.

Ok. That's too far! No one tells me to shut up more than three times in two minutes without facing my wrath. Not even my best friend and cousin. Payback time.

"Why don't you two shut up? You're driving me crazy! And that's hard to do! As for your fake clubs, I can think of a better one. It's called 'Scorpius And Rose Are So Stupid Because They Don't Realize They Are In Love With Each Other And Should Get Together Already And Stop Taking Their Frustrations Out On The Most Awesome Person Ever: James Potter'. I'm still working on the name, but I think you get the drift. It would have even more members than your stupid clubs combined! You'd join wouldn't you Al?" I said all this louder than I needed to, but it they finally stopped yelling at each other (and me). They just kind of stood there blushing and trying not to catch the other's eyes.

"Uh. Yeah. Can I be the VP? I think Fred would want to be Secretary. You know how he likes to mess up what everyone said in the records."

"Sure bro. You think McGonagall would let us make an announcement during dinner?" I asked, watching Rose and Scorp's faces fill with horror from the corner of my eye.

Al seemed to ponder my question for a moment before nodding and saying, "If we ask nicely, and maybe if you promise not to change her office password to 'All Hail James Potter' again."

"Let's go get Lily and talk to her about it." I turned back to Scorp and Rose addressing them, "We're going to leave you two here to sort through your feelings and such, and if you haven't worked something out by the time we come back, this club will become a reality. It is still in its beginning stages, but not if you keep this constant denial up. Get it together already!" I grabbed Al's arm and began to drag him toward Gryffindor tower. As soon as we were out of their line of sight, I pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of my bag and threw it over me and Al.

"I thought we were going to find Lily," Al said in confusion.

"And miss what is sure to be an epic scene between Scorp and Rose. Yeah right." Al shrugged, and we crept back toward them in time to see that they were still standing there awkwardly saying nothing. What dorks. I made a mental note to make fun of them for that later.

Realizing her papers were still scattered on the floor, Rose got down on her knees and began to pick them up. Pausing for a moment, Scorpius bent down and helped her. I guess it didn't occur to either of them to use magic. Each seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, but all too soon the papers had been picked up, and they were back to staring at each other. If something exciting did not happen soon, I was going to do something drastic. What? I hadn't decided yet. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to.

Scorp handed her the papers in his hand, and she took them, both turning pink when their fingers touched. They had it so bad.

"Do you really love me, or was that just James being James?" Rose asked tentatively, her eyes downcast.

Scorp studied her face carefully, seemed to come to a silent decision, and said, "That depends. Do you love me? If you don't, I'd say that James was just being James and pretend I didn't care, but I'd secretly cry my eyes out like Moaning Myrtle when you left. If you do, I'd say that James was right for once in his life."

For once in my life! What kind of best friend is he? How dare he insult me! Just because he is right doesn't mean he has to rub it in.

"But I though you hated me."

He laughed, "I only hated you because you hated me. Plus, it was easier to tell myself that I hated you than love you. I try not to admit my feelings to myself. It's too uncomfortable."

She smiled, put her papers in a bag by her feet, and took a step closer. "I don't hate you either. In fact, I'm rather glad we disagree on so many topics. Where's the fun in agreeing all the time?"

I could tell from the way he seemed to be restraining himself from moving forward that he desperately wanted to close the distance between them; however, Scorp is ever the gentleman and allowed her to do it, not rushing her into anything. I guess I won't have to go all crazy protective cousin on him…yet. I might just for fun though. Rose was practically touching him when he said, "So… do you love me too?"

She sighed in a teasing manner, "I guess. Who ever thought I'd love an arrogant prat?"

He laughed softly and brushed a strand of hair from her face. Gently, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, arms wrapping lightly around her waist. She, in turn slowly put her arms around his neck, one hand playing with the hair at the base of his neck. Al and I looked on perplexedly. I had always thought that when they finally admitted their feelings for each other they would devour one another's faces in a fierce make-out session that I would cringe at and Uncle Ron would yell his head off at. Though completely unexpected, this sweet and gentle embrace they were in somehow fit. I guess they had more feelings for the other than I had given them credit for. I had written most of it off as hormones. They disconnected just as slowly as they had started and smiled, still in each other's arms. After another moment of such sappy staring it made me want to puke, Rose rested her cheek on Scorp's chest. Urgh, make it stop.

"Maybe James is as awesome as he says. I think I owe him one for this," Scorp said smiling into Rose's hair.

"Yes!" I said triumphantly, pulling the Invisibility Cloak off me and Al. "You _finally _admit to my awesomeness!" I threw my arms in the air victoriously and began to do my celebratory dance around them. It involved a lot of fist pumping and exuberant leg kicking.

"SHUT UP JAMES!"

**A/N: The end.**

**Please share your thoughts. **


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